30 Days
by Pleasantries and the Aftermath
Summary: It is said that the high school student Haruno Sakura can make anyone fall in love with her in 30 days. A certain Uchiha would like to test that theory. .:Sasuke-centric Sasusaku:. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue: Meeting

This is going to be an interesting project since I have no real idea of what I want from this. I know the general idea of where the story is going, but I don't know what the chapters are going to be like. They'll probably be very brief drabbles, but I can't promise that they will stay that way. Anyway, please read and review. I'm still very new to writing Sasusaku and I'd like to know what I can improve on. Please treat me kindly.

Key: "Talking"  
'_Thinking'  
__Flashback_

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Chatter rang in the halls. Crowds shoved past each other as small groups stood at the sides involved in small conversations. As a young man talked to his friend, the sounds of blissful, admiring sighs reached his ears and he gritted his teeth as they began to squeal behind their hands. His friend clapped him on the shoulder.

"Just ignore it, teme."

But he couldn't. Not when it was getting progressively louder with every action he made, but taking his friend's advice, he decided to ignore it, only to find himself on a fuse rapidly growing shorter with every adoring gaze added to his back. A girl approached him.

"Sasuke-san, I…"

"WHAT?!" he roared at the girl cowering behind the textbook in her hands. Tears dotted her eyes.

"I only wanted to ask what last night's math homework was!" she shouted as she ran away, tears running down her face. His friend blinked.

"Wow Sasuke, that was harsh."

Sasuke simply raked his hand through his hair, not even bothering to reply to his friend. As he lowered his arm, he felt something knock into his elbow.

"Sorry."

And he looked behind him as a girl walked past, tendrils of pink hair floating behind her. Sasuke blinked and watched her as she moved. "Uh, yeah…" A sharp jab was felt in his side.

"Ow!" he exclaimed before quickly turning his head. "What was that for, Naruto?" Naruto looked at him with exasperation before uncrossing his arms from over his chest and grabbing his raven-haired friend's ear.

"That's Haruno Sakura."

"Who?" Sasuke asked as he rubbed his arm, surprised at how much it hurt. He winced as Naruto tugged on his ear again.

"Haruno Sakura," he hissed, "Rumor has it that she can make any guy fall for her in 30 days. No one goes anywhere near her. Especially the girls since they think their boyfriends might get stolen."

And Sasuke blinked, watching her pink hair bob in the crowd before a devious smile crossed his face. "30 days, huh?"

"Teme, what are you thinking?"

At Naruto's nervous tone, Sasuke smirked. "I'd like to test that theory."

And despite Sasuke's usually functioning brain, it appeared that it took a vacation. As Naruto began wondering what had gotten into his friend, he could only think one thing.

'_This is not going to end well.'_


	2. Day 1: The Project

I'm glad so many people like this story and I have so many reviews. You really know how to make a girl happy. R&R please.

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Chapter 2: Day 1- The Project

Dull chatter rounded the classroom. Idly, Sasuke wondered why he even bothered coming to school on time. His teacher didn't and usually came in two hours later than the other teachers, placing him forty minutes late for an hour-long class. The lock clicked as the door opened.

'_Speak of the devil…'_

"Hello class," greeted the thirty-year old teacher. You'd never figure he was thirty with his grey hair, but he was thirty, though he looked twenty under that mask of his. How did he know that? He'd seen his teacher's face after a kid ran into him and knocked it off. He was the only kid to ever see his teacher's face.

Now that Sasuke thought of it, his teacher seemed more like twenty-something. He certainly acted like it. He didn't really do much in class, his clothes were always a bit sloppy, and his hair was always unkempt. His teacher says it was because it was too much trouble to do otherwise. Sasuke would to like think it was because his teacher gets laid before he comes to school, which would also explain how he was always late to school. What did that man and his wife do together, honestly?

"Uchiha Sasuke. Are you here? Last time I'm asking."

"Here sensei," he said with a slight raise of his arm. Honestly, there was no real point in him being in this class. He got A's all the time, and even if he didn't study for a test and spent the entire night playing video games, he'd still get an A on a test. The sixteen-yr-old sighed. His teacher began talking.

"Alright class, I'm assigning partner projects. Choose one aspect of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period and write a report." Whines of 'Awww,' and 'No fair, Kakashi-sensei!' were echoed in the room, but he merely pressed forward as if no one had talked. "Be prepared to give a presentation to the class and please be creative. Use your textbooks for ideas and research it online. The report is to be five pages with a bibliography. Go choose your topics and partners. Also for homework, read up on the Edo period. We're covering that after we finish with this."

And the class began moving like one entity, rising as one and shifting around desks as papers were shuffled and the chairs were scraped against the floor. Sasuke sat stoically on his chair. Normally when given these projects, he'd automatically get the dobe since that's how things went. He paired up with dobe because he'd rather kill himself than be paired with that Hyuuga Neji kid. Besides, the long-haired boy was always with that Tenten girl (Why didn't they just start dating already? They were always together, anyway) or if she was doing the project with that Rock Lee kid, he'd pick Nara, the other genius of the class aside from him and Hyuuga.

A pencil fell and absentmindedly, he bent down to pick it up before handing it in the general direction it came from. "Here," he muttered.

"Thanks," the person replied and he nodded vacantly before pausing. He had heard that voice before.

Turning his head, he saw a familiar head of pink hair. It was placed in a claw, the ends no longer brushing the undersides of her shoulder blades, but higher, brushing against her neck and shoulders. She was talking with Hyuuga's cousin, Hinata. She was a quiet girl and sat in the back of the room. She was so shy, it was almost a shame. Strange that they would be seen talking to each other, but more importantly, why was she here?

'_Sakura's in my history class? How come I never knew this?'_ he wondered before mentally slapping himself. If he was going to see if she could really make a guy fall in love with her in 30 days, he needed to start soon, and this project was his ticket to do so.

"Haruno."

"Yes?" she asked, green eyes staring at him from a startled expression. Peering closer, her eyes were more of an emerald color than he originally thought.

"You're going to be my partner for the project."

"But I already have a partner for the project," she replied. Hinata just stayed off to the side sending nervous glances between the two of them.

"I don't care. You're going to be my project partner." And where most girls would crumble and abandon their partners without a care for their feelings, Haruno Sakura did the unthinkable. She turned her back on him.

And Sasuke stared at her back in shock, Hinata blushing and staring at the floor as Sakura continued to keep her back to him. To add insult to injury, she stuck out her tongue and made a face at him. That was what brought Sasuke out of his stupor.

'_This is going to be easy,_' he thought to himself as Naruto ran up to him with plans of a samurai sword fight. There was no way he would fall for a girl like her. She wasn't that pretty, she was quiet and forgettable, and she had pink hair, and Sasuke would never let himself be attributed to anything with the color pink. Even with all that against her, he would admit it. She was interesting.


	3. Day 1: Notebook

Wow, I can't believe how many people put this on alert. I'm so happy. This chapter might not be as good since I'm writing this while I'm sick, but it's the only break I've gotten from school.

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Chapter 2: Day 1- Notebook

Shouts of joy erupted throughout the school. The bell had rung and school was over for the day.

As students began to filter through the doorways, Sasuke continued to pack his bag. Hearing the door slid open, he looked behind him to see Asuma-sensei enter and hug his wife. Kurenai-sensei merely chuckled and let her husband's hands rest on her swollen stomach. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes. As touching as the scene was, he would have rather not seen this side to his math teacher and his English teacher.

Sticking his books into his book bag, the sound of laughter reached his ears. Looking out the classroom windows, he could see his crazy biology teacher, Anko, with the mild-mannered gym teacher, Iruka. How the two of them ever got together, he would never know.

Deciding that the fluff was getting to be too much, he closed his bag and flinging it over his shoulder, began to walk out of the classroom. On his way out, his leg bumped into a desk, causing something to fall onto the floor; he bent down to pick it up.

'_A notebook?'_

Flipping through the pages, he saw it to be a math notebook, not surprising since Kurenai-sensei was the math teacher and this was her classroom. Closing the book, he spotted the name of the owner on the cover, the words 'Haruno Sakura' neatly scrawled in black pen. Sasuke threw it into the air and deftly caught it in his hand as it fell.

'_I'll give it back to her tomorrow.'_


	4. Day 2: Neighbors

Spring Break! It's finally here! It's finally here! I'm over my flu and my infection has cleared and I'm ecstatic! Please review. Thank you!

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Chapter 4: Day 2- Neighbors

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When Sasuke woke up that morning, his house was unusually quiet. Then again, his father always left for work early, his older brother was away at college, and his mother had been sick these past few days.

Throwing back his covers, he entered his bathroom, showering and doing all those things you're supposed to do in the morning before heading downstairs to eat the breakfast his mother had made earlier for him.

Washing the dishes after he finished, he scoured through their fridge and picked out a few pieces of fruit. Picking up the paring knife, he peeled the apple and washed the berries he found before slicing the apple and placing them into a bowl. Grabbing the small tray from beside the dish rack, he placed the bowl, a fork, and a napkin onto the tray before bringing it to his parents' room. Watching his mother sleep peacefully in her bed, he placed the tray on her bedside with a note of thanks for all she's done for him before kissing her forehead and leaving for school.

Moving to the front door, he locked the door and stood on the porch for a while as he drank in the sights and sounds of his neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood. Not gated-community nice, but everyone in this neighborhood had a successful career and it was certainly peaceful.

Standing under the overhang for a while, he watched as the wind blew some leaves across the sidewalk when he heard a garage door open, the sound of metal gears clicking and grinding against each other grating on his ears and he turned his head to glare at the offender when he heard the whirr of bike wheels. Looking up, he had just enough time to see a bike speed past his house, watching as the rider's pink hair streamed behind her on the wind.

Stunned, he blinked his eyes owlishly as his mind wrapped around the idea that Haruno Sakura lived down the street from him before he stepped off the porch and began walking to school.


	5. Day 2: The Return

I know the last chapter didn't have much Sasusaku action, so to make up for it, there's Sasusaku action and it's longer!

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Chapter 5: Day 2- The Return

When Sasuke got to school, he was greeted with his daily procession. The only time he didn't see the swarm of swooning glittery-eyed girls was on weekends and holidays and everyday, he thanked Kami that they didn't know where he lived.

Swinging his book bag to and fro, he suddenly felt himself yanked down.

"Ack!"

Feeling the offending weight still across his shoulders, he looked up to see the grinning face of the dobe.

"You idiot."

"Morning to you too, teme!" the blonde replied. Sasuke merely sighed. There was no point in talking to him. If he did try to egg the idiot on to give a proper response to his insults, he'd suffer burnout by the end of the day. Unfortunately for Sasuke, Naruto had become habitualized to his insults and now greeted them with a light-hearted insult of his own.

"Teme…"

At the sudden jarring of his shoulder, Sasuke looked up to see Naruto's hand waving in front of his face and slapped it away. "What?"

"Did you think of my idea for the history project?" he asked and Sasuke fell silent for a minute. No, he hadn't thought about it at all. He had been too busy toying around with the pink notebook he found earlier that day, scouring through the item to discover she was just as smart as him. Curiosity had always been his downfall, anyway.

"Hn. Slipped my mind," he replied as he began to steer them towards their history class. Unusually, their teacher was early, but seeing how his nose was buried in that hentai novel of his, it wasn't surprising. His wife didn't really approve of him reading that, but Kakashi told the class that she was actually a closet fan and seeing him reading the book makes her want to jump his bones, thereby continuing the cycle of 'things I really didn't need to hear about my teacher's personal life.'

On a sigh, Sasuke sat down at his desk, watching as Naruto sailed a paper airplane in the classroom. The object began heading towards the direction of the chalkboard, and without even looking up, their teacher reached up and crumpled it in his hand. Sasuke shook his head. He'd hate to be the person who tried to jump his teacher in a dark alley.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of pink and watched Sakura sit in her desk beside him. Idly, he wondered what she did in the morning since she had gotten to school earlier than him, but he got to their class earlier than her. Briefly, he entertained the idea of her hanging out with her friends, but other than the occasional interactions he'd seen between her and Hinata, he realized that she didn't seem to have many friends. Something pulled at his heart strings, but he ignored it. Uchiha Sasuke did not feel sorry for Haruno Sakura. He didn't even have probable cause. For all he knew, she could have friends left and right. Maybe he'd just never seen her talk to them.

Hearing the clasp of her bag tinkle against the leather material, he looked up, watching as a soft stream of curses escaped her lips as she riffled through her bag. After a few seconds, she began dumping the contents of her book bag onto her desk, mostly textbooks and a pencil case. Watching her brows furrow in frustration, he reached forward and tapped her on the shoulder.

"What?" she snapped and he looked at her with mild surprise. That was the first time a girl ever snapped at him. He reached into his bag.

"I believe you're looking for this," he said holding out a small pink notebook. Realizing it to be hers, she looked up at him in question. He merely shrugged his shoulders. "You left it in math class," he stated calmly.

Looking out of the corner of his eyes, he watched her stare at him for a while before blinking twice as a small smile painted her lips. "Thank you," she said bowing her head slightly to show her gratitude. He merely nodded his head in response, glancing out of the corner of his eye every now and again to watch her hug her notebook and smile glowingly.


	6. Day 2: Relationships

I just recently realized that I'm writing in a vignette format. It's actually a really great thing for me because when I was in middle school, I thought I'd never be able to write a vignette because it seemed too hard. It's actually really fun!

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Chapter 6: Day 2- Relationships

As Kakashi-sensei began teaching the lesson for the day (surprisingly, he was being serious today), Sasuke let his mind wander. The lesson wasn't really that interesting and he'd already studied it from the book the night before, so it didn't matter if he paid attention or not. The only problem was if Kakashi caught him daydreaming. After all, the man was known for his slight sadistic streak and his detentions were some of the worst in the school. Even if he was one of the smartest kids in class, he'd have no mercy.

'_He'll probably make me stand with a bucket of water in each hand for five minutes like he did Naruto. Even if it's no problem for me, I'd rather not endure the public humiliation.'_

No doubt if he did endure the detention, Kakashi would never let him live it down.

Letting his eyes glance around the room, he saw Hinata once again looking adoringly at Naruto. What she saw in the dobe, he had no clue. The idiot had a stomach like a vacuum and he was just above failing in this class. Naruto was a lost cause. He should know. Naruto begged him to tutor him so he could raise his test grades and even after five days, the best he could get out of the idiot was a D+. He was lucky that Kakashi took pity on the boy and gave him chances for extra credit so he could get C's in the class.

Looking around the room, he could see Tenten and Neji flirting again. Well, not really since guys like him never flirt and Tenten wasn't the type of girl to really flirt either seeing how she was a tomboy, but they were flirting in their own right judging by the small smirk he saw on Hyuuga's face. He probably cracked a joke at the teacher and Tenten was laughing at it. Though it might not seem like much, he had yet to see the Hyuuga so happy with a girl before and he would begrudgingly admit that he was happy for the guy. Neji deserved it after losing his father a few years back.

The sound of paper falling onto his desk brought him back to his senses and looking down, he found that his table was littered in love notes. He grimaced. Though the school thought he was a bit of a playboy because of his horde of fangirls, he wasn't. He could count on one hand the amount of girlfriends he'd ever had and all of them ended badly.

The first girl was a girl in middle school, Kin. They had gone out for about two months before she broke up with him because he was boring. It was alright with him since he knew she only liked him for his looks.

The second was Ino. It was a few weeks after Kin and seeing how it was their last year of middle school, he thought nothing of it and went out with her. They had some fun times and he remembered actually being happy, but with her constant mood swings and need to have him reassure her for the umpteenth time that she looked fine, it was just too much. They broke it off after six months and the third girl and fourth girl were just random people from his class who thought it would be cool to have him as her boyfriend. Those girls each lasted two days before they thought him boring as well. Honestly, what did they expect from him? He was an average teen guy. If they were disappointed, it was their fault for having preconceived notions of him being the cool romantic nice guy that would sweep them off their feet. He was just Uchiha Sasuke, a sixteen-yr-old guy just trying to survive puberty with all his limbs and brain cells intact.

Okay, so while the first four girls had not been a problem for him, the fifth one was someone he would rather not have to meet again.

Karin was the girl he hooked up with in his freshman year of high school. She had liked him since sixth grade and he decided that he should at least try to like her since she had liked him for so long. _Biggest fucking mistake ever._

Not only did she have a shrine to him in her closet, he had almost been raped by her when they went on the school camping trip together.

'_Thank Kami she had to move after freshman year,'_ he thought with a sigh of relief. Now with his track record of dating, it was understandable that he didn't really actively try to get the attention of the opposite sex, but as he sat there in his desk, he had to wonder what a relationship with Haruno Sakura would be like.


	7. Day 2: Sleeping Trouble

I'm finally finishing the rest of Hanakimi after a two year hiatus. I'm surprised I remember this all. Yay!

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Chapter 7: Day 2- Sleeping Trouble

It was very rare that Uchiha Sasuke could not fall asleep. Normally when he was done with his homework and all the other stuff he did in his spare time, he would hit the bed and be out like a light, but tonight was different. No matter what he did, he couldn't fall asleep.

Closing his eyes, he let a frustrated growl escape him. He had tried everything: warm milk, music, counting sheep, counting to a hundred, counting to a thousand, counting backwards from a thousand, thinking, not thinking, just laying there—everything! He was damn near ready to start climbing the walls if it would help him to sleep. Turning with a huff, he looked at his alarm clock. 11:30.

_'Great. I've just lost an hour and a half of sleep,'_ he thought as he sulked in bed. Turning with a sigh, he stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows of trees drift across its blue background. Idly, he wondered if Haruno Sakura couldn't sleep this night as well because he couldn't be the only one in the world not able to fall asleep that night and as soon as that thought was uttered in the depths of his mind, he fell asleep at last.


	8. Day 3: Sickness Part 1

Inspired by the time I had a three day cold. This is basically what I did during that time besides sleep and groan at my headache and shivers.

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Chapter 8: Day 3- Sickness Part 1

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The next morning when he woke up, he felt tired. Not exhausted-tired, but he could still feel the remainders of sleep that would not leave him. With a yawn, he walked into his bathroom and, shedding his clothes, hopped into the shower.

His bathroom was small. A toilet, a sink, a shower stall, and a small shelf for his toiletry items were all that was inside. Standing inside his shower stall, he could hear his mother downstairs preparing breakfast for him and smiled to himself. After two days of a stubborn fever, she was finally better again.

Washing his hair of his shampoo, he reached for the bar of soap on the wall when he suddenly stopped. Strangely enough, everything was staring to spin. Just then, a wave of nausea hit him and he crumpled to the tile floor with a loud thud. He knew it was loud because he could hear the worried footsteps of his mother climbing the stairs.

Suddenly, the shower door was opened and as the steam began to clear and breathing became a bit easier, he found himself staring into the terrified face of his mother. Idly, he wondered why he wasn't embarrassed at the thought of his mother seeing him naked, but reasoned that she'd seen him naked as a child and he was just too damn dizzy to care. Feeling her shift his head onto her lap, she placed her hand on his forehead and he hissed at the sudden chill. His forehead wasn't that hot, was it?

"Sasuke, you have a fever! You must have caught my bug. Oh, I'm so sorry," she said grabbing a towel and draping it over him. "You aren't going to school today. I'll call the office and tell them that you're staying home. Let's get you dressed and back in bed."

It was an awkward process because after she got him a pair of pajamas from his room and went back downstairs to call the school, he had slowly gotten dressed. The only problem was that he was so unsteady on his feet that he was constantly leaning on his sink, his wall, anything that would keep him from collapsing and by the time he was dressed again, he was exhausted.

When his mother finally returned to the bathroom, the scene was not pretty to say the least. Her son was obviously too weak to do anything in his current state and being his mother, she helped him to his feet. Grabbing one of his arms, she draped it across her shoulder and began leading him back to his bed. At this, Sasuke had to smirk because not only was he much heavier than her, he towered over her by a good four inches and anyone stumbling upon this scene would have found it highly comical.

Finally dropping onto the bed, he found himself being tucked in as his mother began to fuss over him. At the smile he found on her face, he decided to bite back the remark of him being fine because obviously he wasn't and his mother was happy. It wasn't everyday she got to fawn over her son and she obviously missed taking care of her boys. With a smile, he let her push and prod all she wanted. With both her sons starting to leave to start their own lives, it was the least he could do for the woman who had given birth to him. So what if it was embarrassing? She was enjoying herself and seeing his mother smile was all that really mattered to Sasuke.

As he sat in bed, staring up at the same ceiling he stared at the night before, thoughts of homework flew across his mind. When he got back to school, he would have to make up the English test he was supposed to have today. He would have to find out math homework, find some way to finish the biology experiment, find out what homework they had in their Japanese class that day (Ebisu-sensei hated late work.), and see what they had to do in their civics class with Ibiki-sensei. Looking back on his schedule, plus the fact he was on the track team and took martial arts on weekends, made him wonder how he even got so much sleep every night. Then again, the homework was easy for him. Naruto took most of the night to do his homework.

That led to another problem. How was he going to get together with Naruto to do the project? They had a lot of planning to do if they wanted to do a skit and it was due Monday. It was already Wednesday and he had no idea how long he was going to be out for. Naruto wouldn't be able to do the project alone, even if he was a bit of a history buff (how he still managed to get such low grades, Sasuke would never be able to figure out).

Finally deciding to just IM Naruto about it that night, he sighed and readjusted the towel on his forehead before idly wondering what Sakura was doing in class that day.


	9. Day 4: Sickness Part 2

School is over at last!! :D

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Chapter 9: Day 4- Sickness Part 2

When Sasuke woke up that morning, he knew it was going to a bad day. Not only was he still sick, but he had nothing to do. As lovely as his ceiling was, there was only so much he could take of the deep blue paint hovering above his head.

Turning his head, he sighed and stared at his clock in boredom. He had already emailed the dobe about the project specs since he wasn't on last night and he had to get the project to him somehow. The report was done and so was the bibliography. In the email, he told Naruto to just do a puppet show. It was still creative and Naruto could still do the project without him if he couldn't show up.

It was at that moment that a wave of nausea hit him and he vomited into the trashcan beside his bed. His mother came in just as he was spitting the taste of stomach acid from his mouth. His mother smiled sympathetically and rubbed his back soothingly as she sat down.

"I'm sorry I gave you my bug," she apologized with a kind look in her eyes.

"It's okay," he said as he continued to spit out the taste of stomach acid when his stomach lurched again. He spat into the garbage can and wiped the excess off on his sleeve. "Should you really be here right now? I don't want you to get sick with this."

His mother merely smiled. "Sasuke, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about you."

"I'm fine," he said hoarsely as he rubbed his throat. Kami, it hurt.

"Well, I'm going to go grocery shopping and see about getting you something to help your throat. I'm going to be gone for an hour. Are you going to be okay until I come back?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sixteen. I'll be fine," he rasped.

"Are you sure?" she asked sinking back onto the bed as she took his temperature with her hand. "You still have a fever."

He nodded. "I'll be fine. Go do your errands." Suddenly he erupted into a coughing fit and feeling his mother's worried gaze on his face, he waved her away. "I'll be fine, mom. I promise."

"Okay…" And reluctantly, she left his room. Watching her shadow disappear around the corner, he flopped back into bed and covered his face with his hand. He had forgotten how exhausting it could be getting his mother to stop worrying. Then again, this was the first time he had gotten sick in years.

Staring at the ceiling once more, he began letting his gaze stray. It had been a while since he had actually looked at his room anyway.

The walls, like his ceiling, were navy blue. It was a strange color for a room, but he liked it. Across from the bed stood his desk, cluttered with books, papers, and other things as his blank computer screen stared him in the face and the shirt draped across the back of his rolling chair reminded him that he had to put it away. By his desk was his closet and next to his closet was the window to the right of his bed. Across from the window was his dresser and bookcase along with the door that led to his bathroom.

Reaching over to grab the alarm clock off his bedside table, he stared at it with a slight frown.

'_12:15; school's over today,'_ he thought to himself, thinking back on the half-day they had today. He had planned to play soccer with the guys.

'_Oh well, it wasn't that great of a day today anyway,'_ he thought looking out the window at the grey sky.

Getting up, he grabbed his trashcan to dispose of the vomit (he wasn't going to let it stew in his room all afternoon) and went to rinse his mouth out before going back to sit on his bed. He wasn't nauseous anymore, but he did feel cold. Shrugging on a sweater, he popped the thermometer in his mouth. Just then, the door rang.

'_Who could that be?'_ he wondered as he climbed down the stairs. Opening the door, he had his answer.

"Sahklura?" he asked with eyes just as wide as hers. He pulled the thermometer from his mouth and cleared his throat. "What are you doing here?"

"The teachers asked if I could bring you the homework so you wouldn't fall behind. I had no idea we lived so close by each other," she said with a smile.

"Hn," he replied noncommittally as he lied through his teeth. She didn't even notice they lived by each other? Most girls would've immediately begun pestering him everyday once they found out. Noticing she was talking, he decided that he should pay attention.

"Kakashi-sensei said that if you wanted to, you and Naruto could present later in the week—it's up to you, of course—but he wants to know by tomorrow."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. His teacher could be late, but he expected everyone else to be prompt. Of course.

"It's fine. I've made the project so that even if I can't make it, Naruto can pull it off by himself. The dobe would've taken over the presentation of the project, anyway," he joked, watching as she began to giggle behind her hand. A half-smile made its way on his face.

Slowly, her laughter began to die down and he realized that she rarely laughed during class. Briefly, he wondered why when he found her looking at him.

"Something on my face?" he asked, genuinely concerned. He thought he had gotten all the vomit off of him.

"No; just wondering if you're okay. Is anyone taking care of you? If you want, I could come in and make something for you," she said stepping towards the door. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine. My mom just went out for groceries and I wouldn't want you to get sick on my account," he explained and watching her brows knit, he could see her agreeing with him.

"Well Uchiha-san, here's the homework. If you need any help, you can call me at home," she said handing him some textbooks and papers before handing him a small slip of paper with her phone number on it, the numbers written in her fine, neat handwriting and briefly, he wondered why girls always had such neat handwriting.

Nodding in thanks, he watched her leave for her house before closing the door and climbing the stairs back to his room, a small smile on his face.


	10. Day 6: Chat

I have no fscking idea how to use webcams or IM chatting because I don't have any of those things. Please correct the technologically-challenged person if need be.

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Chapter 10: Day 6-Chat

For Sasuke, it was another day of abject misery. Even if he wasn't dying of a fever, he was still pretty miserable. After all, migraines and endless wasted tissue boxes were not fun, not to mention the amount of chicken soup and rice soup he had to eat.

Flopping back onto the bed with a sigh, he stared up at his ceiling in boredom. He had nothing to do, after all, and rubbed his arm on a whim, glad to be free of that bathrobe his mother shoved onto him. It was his father's and if that wasn't creepy enough, it smelled like cologne and his mom and that was not a road he would like to travel without the help of some very, very intense therapy. Plus, his body had been getting weird on him lately. One minute he was hot and the next, he was cold. The sooner he could get over being sick, the better.

In an effort to curb his boredom, he meandered over to the computer to see who was on. There had to be someone he could talk to and he was not going to degrade himself to ask his mother because it would inevitably lead to a conversation of why he should get a girlfriend and asking him why she didn't have any cute grandbabies yet. It was his mother's idea of harmless teasing (though he believed she was partly serious), but it still scared the shit out of him when she started crying because he always thought he was responsible for why she was crying and had the urge to go out and flag down the next woman to pass him by and ask her to get become his girlfriend just to stop his mother from crying any further. Then again, with Sakura living a few doors down, the prospect wasn't too bad. She was certainly more tolerable than the other girls he'd had relationships with, but what did he know about Haruno? She was still as big of a mystery as the day he laid eyes on her.

Grunting, he glanced at his computer screen and saw his brother was on. Strange, seeing how he went to Tokyo U, but he didn't question it. It had been a while since he had talked with his brother.

**UchihaS**: How's college?

**BetterThanYou**: Sasuke? That's your SN? How…unimaginative of you.

**UchihaS**: Like your need for self-reassurance is any better. Just answer the damn question.

**BetterThanYou**: Hai, hai. Hold on. You got that web cam I sent you for Christmas last year?

**UchihaS**: Yeah.

**BetterThanYou**: Use it.

**UchihaS**: Fine, fine.

Reaching up, he turned on his webcam and a few seconds later, a window popped up to show his brother: a twenty-one-yr-old with glasses and black hair tied at the base of his neck, smiling—grinning, actually. Man, college had changed him.

"So, how's my stupid little brother?" Nope, same stupid Itachi.

"I'm sick, you moron," Sasuke snapped. He always had a nasty little habit of snapping at his brother, even if he did love him (though raving lunatics driving tanks and horses would never be able pull that out of him). Then again, when your brother is good at everything (and he meant _everything_), you probably have a right to act a bit bitchy. You would be bitchy too if you had to live in that kind of a shadow. Itachi peered close to the screen.

"You're right. What did you do? Get into a fight with a cat?"

"No. Mom got a cold. I caught it," he commented, watching Itachi wince in sympathy. They always did have a love-hate relationship.

"Ouch. Rough. How long have you had it?"

"Four days and counting. You still haven't answered my question," Sasuke reminded.

"Well, college is okay. Lots of papers and all-nighters. Get this, my roommate has blue hair!" A figure walked across the background and suddenly, the screen was filled with screams of "Oh shi—Kisame, put some clothes on!"

Sasuke smirked deviously and chuckled. Apparently, he must have heard because Itachi's next action was to drop the arm covering his eyes and to point at the screen saying, "I heard that."

"I wasn't expecting you not to," Sasuke replied smartly. Itachi narrowed his gaze.

"So…what about you? Anything new? Any _girl_ new?"

At this, Sasuke stiffened. Itachi, ever perceptive, caught this and smiled. "So there is a new girl…"

"Not really. Me and Naruto made a bet. Nothing much," Sasuke said, hoping he'd get off the subject. Why did he feel so jumpy about this?

"Really? How is Naruto by the way?"

"Same dobe as the last time you saw him," Sasuke said blandly. Itachi nodded in understanding.

"Invite him to Christmas dinner next time. I want to see if he's improved at all."

"Are you seriously going to challenge him to DDR?" Sasuke moaned in despair. It was so degrading, having the brother he once beheld like a god challenge someone to DDR. And as if that wasn't enough, they did it in public with him as the judge. "Why can't you challenge him to something else? Something involving guns or cars?"

"Those got boring a long time ago. Plus, DDR gives me some exercise. I barely leave my chair in college."

"Fine," Sasuke relented.

Itachi took off his glasses and rested the arm of the frame against his lip. His eyes gleamed and Sasuke was instantly reminded of the fact that besides being smart, his brother was the pretty-boy of the family. Even in looks, his brother had him beat. Itachi smiled slowly.

"So who's the girl?"

"You don't know her," Sasuke said hastily.

"You're touchy."

"I'm not touchy. It's only a bet."

"Then is she pretty?"

"What? I don't know!"

"Well, what's she like?"

"I don't know. She's smart and girly…kind-of."

"Kind of?"

"She's normal, okay?! She's a normal girl…with pink hair and green eyes."

Itachi's face went blank for a minute. "…Did you say pink hair?"

"Yeah."

"Did she dye it or—?"

"It's natural," he interrupted suddenly.

Itachi's eyes widened on the screen. "It's natural?!"

"That's what I hear," Sasuke said, shifting uneasily in his chair. Why he felt so embarrassed, he didn't know. It's not like he actually checked whether she was naturally like that or not. He just heard around the school. It's hard not to hear about a girl like that.

"…She sounds like my kind of girl."

"What?!" Sasuke screamed, gripping the screen.

"Do I detect a bit jealousy?"

Wait…think before you talk to him. Say something wrong and he'll use it against you. Calm down. Okay? Now talk.

"No."

"Really? You seemed kind of defensive. Actually, you've been kind of defensive since we started talking about this girl."

"Fine, you want to know about her? She lives down the block. She's in most of my classes. She has naturally pink hair and she rides a bike to school. There, happy?!"

"…you know a lot about a girl you don't care about. Do you like her or something?"

"No."

"Really? Denial isn't good for you, little brother."

"Goodbye Itachi."

"Hey!! Wait! Sasuke, don't—"

The melody of his computer turning off echoed through Sasuke's room. Deciding he had enough of his computer for a while, he went downstairs where his mother was preparing lunch for the three of them (his father was home today). Walking over to the couch, he sat down and looked out the window to see Sakura glide by on her bike. Sasuke sighed.

'_I do not like Haruno Sakura. I don't. I don't. I don't.'_


	11. Day 9: Kittens

Okay, well I was typing this when my computer crashed on me, causing me to lose almost everything I wrote because everything after the first paragraph hadn't been saved yet. Not sure if it's any good, but I can't churn something out like my first product. Thanks for all the reviews by the way. I love reading them all.

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Chapter 11: Day 9- Kittens

It was a bright morning when Sakura set out for school on her bike. Birds twittered in the skies above her and the sun bathed her in its ethereal glow as she glided through the streets.

Looking to her right to see if any car doors would be opening, she found herself staring at the Uchiha residence. It was strange that she lived so close to their school idol and never noticed, but then again, she had never really cared about him other than the fact he existed and that he returned her missing notebook to her, and she snickered to herself at the memory of Sasuke's disheveled state with a thermometer jammed in his mouth. Never had the school idol fallen so far from his image than that moment.

Making a few turns, she parked her bike at the bike rack in front of her school before wandering away. Their school was strangely large for a public school (what with a track field among other things), but Sakura had long given up on questioning things and walked into the small wooded area by the main building. Even in the grove of trees, she could hear the gushing squeals of some girls at the return of their god before school started. Sakura smirked.

Yes, Sasuke had returned to school and had given his presentation on time. Though not as enthusiastic as Naruto, it was still amusing to see the school idol bow his head under a cardboard window and deliver their presentation with a puppet jammed over his hand, never mind the fact he was pummeled mercilessly by Naruto's puppet.

Searching around the base of a tree, she found a familiar opening and peered into the hole where she heard mewing. A smile crossed her face.

"What are you doing?" a low voice asked and she turned in surprise to see Uchiha Sasuke looking down at her, one hand holding onto his book bag while the other was sunk deep into his pants pocket. Surprised, Sakura blinked before answering.

"There are kittens here. I come everyday to feed them. I don't know what happened to the mother," she said as a small tabby cat came out from its shelter, purring as it rubbed against Sakura's hand. At a loud mewing sound, Sakura looked behind her to see a small calico rubbing against a stunned Sasuke's foot. Laughing, she took out the can of cat food from her bag and grabbed the calico to place it by the open can. "Here you go."

Watching the kittens for a minute, she heard the grass rustle and looked up to see Sasuke gone. The next morning, he was on her doorstep, a can of cat food in his hand.


	12. Day 10: Lab Partners

Busy week for me. Got sick, got a facebook, and I just injured myself. Enough about me. I decided to post this chapter early. It's longer than the last one by a lot, so that means something happens. But what is it? Have fun reading, guys!

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Chapter 12: Day 10- Lab Partners

"I'm bored. Hey teme."

"What, Naruto?"

"I'm bored."

"Good for you."

"I'm bored."

"…"

"I'm bored…Teme, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes and say you're bored one more time and I swear I will kill you."

"I'm bore—" And that was as far as Naruto got before his head was abruptly smacked into the table.

"Warning, Uchiha Sasuke," Anko called from across the room before continuing her sentence on the board.

"What the hell was that for?" Naruto hissed angrily as he rubbed the lump on his forehead.

Sasuke merely grunted. "I warned you," he said ignoring the affronted expression on Naruto's face. Honestly, he did give him fair warning and he'd been friends with the dobe for so long that he should've been able to recognize when he was serious or not. Then again, this was Naruto, so he probably should've expected this.

"Geez teme, you're such a jerk. It's no wonder people like your brother better," Naruto said only for his stool to slam into the table, pinning his legs between the two before he fell out of his seat. "You bastard!"

"Second warning, Uchiha Sasuke and warning to Uzumaki Naruto for foul language. If you want to curse, do it outside or I'll give you a real reason to curse in here," Anko warned as her hand dangled dangerously close to the snake tank she kept on her desk. How she was able to get those in the school, Sasuke would never know. Sure, she was the biology teacher, but did she really need 12 snakes?

"Really, Uchiha. Have you stooped so low that you've resorted to picking on the stupid?" Neji asked from the neighboring table. It was a rib and Sasuke knew it because they had a mutual understanding that they hated each other. It wasn't anything personal. It was just that their personalities were so similar (same grades, same attitude, same smirk) that it was inevitable they'd clash. Sasuke could honestly care less about him, but that stupid god-complex of his was so annoying. Knowing the Hyuuga was smirking at him, he felt a burning urge to go up and wipe it from his face. Oh, what he wouldn't give for just five seconds with the guy…

"No. I haven't gone after you yet Hyuuga, now have I?" The smirk on his face felt wonderful and the murderous look on Hyuuga's face was priceless, but just as he was going to lunge across the aisle, Anko stepped between.

"Stop it. If you're going to fight for the position of alpha male, at least wait until we get to that chapter in the book or wait for me to sell tickets; either way, you're not fighting now, so cool it and pass these papers down," she said handing out the worksheets.

Sighing, they did as they were told. Sasuke looked down to glance over the lab they were going to do today. It was simple. With a partner, get the materials and prepare a slide. Sketch what you see under the microscope and answer the analysis questions. Easy.

"Hey dobe, go get the materials."

"Not so fast, Mr. Uchiha. Since you guys work with the same person every time we have partner projects, I decided to switch it up," she said with a malicious glint in her eye. "Today, you're going to pick your partner via raffle!" she declared, a top hat in her hand.

As Sasuke stared at the object in her hand wondering where she hid it (honestly, those lab coat pockets may be big, but not enough for a top hat!), he begrudgingly lined up against the walls with the rest of the class and reached into the hat as it passed. Opening up the folded piece of paper, he stared at the number written on the small sheet. _'Three.'_

At the sounds of people milling and moving about the classroom, Sasuke looked up from his place on the wall to study the partners. Neji was with Tenten, naturally (they probably had freaking telepathy or something that guaranteed them to be together. What was that word Neji liked to use so much? Oh right, destiny. Destiny was pairing the two of them together. Get it into your head, Hyuuga and _date_ her.), Shikamaru was with that loud blonde girl Temari (her brother was crazy!), and dobe was with Hinata. That poor girl. She'd have to do all the work in her group, but judging by the look her face, she was probably thankful he was even anywhere near her.

Looking around, he realized there were still some girls looking for their partners. Judging by their defeated looks, they were part of his fan club and were not his partner (thank God), but he wondered who was. Seeing their jealous, seething looks, his answer was just to his left.

"Number three?" He nodded absentmindedly; too busy studying the notes on the board. The voice sounded familiar and he tried to search for the owner in his mind when he turned his head to see a familiar heart-stopping smile.

"Look like we're partners, Sasuke-kun." Her voice was sweet and calm, as if oblivious to the fact that he was the Uchiha Sasuke, reputed school idol, and that she should be melting into a puddle at his feet. Instead, she was treating him like everyone else in the class and it was a fact that was startling and surprisingly welcome. In the other classes where he was paired with a member of the opposite sex, they'd gush at how smart he was and try to sit as close to him as possible, but he doubted Sakura would do that to him.

"Should I get the supplies or do you want to?" Sasuke asked, scanning her reaction. No drool, no blush, no suddenly leaping of the heart into her eyeballs; she really didn't care about who he was.

"Um, you can do it. I'll just get the station set up," she replied and they parted ways, Sasuke heading to the front of the room while Sakura went to one of the empty tables. Grabbing the aquatic plant and slide, he headed back to where Sakura was sitting, only to nearly drop the materials. There, at the table behind them, was Hyuuga. _Shit._

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

'_There's only half an hour of class left. He has to complete this too. You can do this, Sasuke._'

"Nothing," he said shaking his head.

If Sakura noticed anything off about him, she didn't let him know that, instead taking the plant from him to cut off one of the leaves.

Taking the eye-dropper, he dropped some water onto the slide and handed it to Sakura who placed the leaf onto the slide before covering it with the plastic covering Anko handed out to the class. She motioned to the microscope and he waved his hand, telling her she could go first. She nodded in acknowledgement and placed her eyes to the scope.

With nothing better to do, Sasuke let his eyes wander the room. He had already copied the notes on the board and the questions, though easy, required the microscope. He could do homework, but not only was his book at home (he wasn't going to carry a twenty-pound textbook with him everyday), if Anko found out, she'd kill him. Briefly, he thought of Kakashi and his sadistic punishments, before remembering Anko stating that she and Kakashi had dated in the past when a student asked if they had a relationship together. When the kid asked why they broke up, Anko had stated irreconcilable differences and that she had found Iruka around the same time. Of course, she wasn't supposed to tell any of the students about her relationship with Iruka (when he found out, he was decidedly upset—the first time they'd seen their happy gym teacher so), but Anko thought it was a wonderful thing since she could now express her love in public (much to the chagrin of everyone else).

Getting back on subject, it was safe to say that Kakashi was the reason for her sadistic streak, or at least letting it flourish because asking around, he found out Anko didn't used to be like that before she met the silver-haired teacher.

'_Thank god, they broke up,'_ Sasuke thought, shuddering at the prospects of what would've happened if they stayed together. When Christmas rolled around, he'd get a nice present for Kakashi's wife. She probably wouldn't understand the sudden token of appreciation, but Sasuke would because she was the entire reason Kakashi broke up with Anko. And if what his mind conjured up for him was correct, the present would be expensive.

Letting his eyes wander to the table across the room, he could see Naruto cursing and struggling with the scalpel (Honestly, it was a plant. If the dobe couldn't beat a plant, what aspect of him did Hinata like?). Naruto struggled with it a bit more before a crash and Hinata's shy exclamation of 'Naruto!' alerted everyone in the class that Naruto cut himself. That, and the fact he screamed 'Oh my God, I cut myself!' as he freaked out about the small red line on his finger. Never was Sasuke more ashamed to call Naruto his best friend.

Hearing the class erupt into laughter as Anko clicked her tongue, Sasuke looked around to see the reactions. Temari and Shikamaru were shaking their heads and giving almost pitying glances to the poor Hyuuga girl who looked ready to cry; Tenten was giggling; and Neji was smirking in triumph as if destiny had granted his wish for superiority over Naruto (which would be a pretty lame wish since it wasn't hard).

Turning his head, he looked to see what Sakura's reaction only to find none. She was concentrating solely on what she saw through the lenses of the microscope as if in her own little world. It was respectable, her ability to concentrate, since the area around her was going to hell in a hand basket and if he wasn't in the right mind, he'd call it cute. But since he was in the right mind, such words would not be uttered, though the white of the lab coat really brought out the pink in her hair and the green in her eyes.

"I give up!" she suddenly said, throwing her arms up petulantly. Alarmed by the sudden sound, Sasuke was shaken from his thoughts and looked up.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I can't see anything with this microscope. I keep focusing and refocusing and I get nowhere!" she screamed.

"Let me try," he said getting up from his seat. Sakura gladly vacated the area for him and he stood before it, feeling Sakura's frustration wash off her in waves. If the microscope was capable of feeling, it would probably want to run and hide from her murderous aura and he couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him.

Glancing to the side to see what she was doing, he saw her stare at him quizzically and he cleared his throat. There was nothing funny about her temper tantrum. Nothing; and he concentrated on focusing the lens. A few twists and a readjustment of the slide later, he had a picture of the swimming chloroplasts they needed. "Got it."

"Really? How?" Sakura asked incredulously as she peered over his shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, well my family was an old ninja clan famous for their bloodline trait. Even though the ability went extinct a long time ago, my family retained the basic dark color and good eyesight. No one in my family needs glasses," he explained turning his head, only to find himself almost nose-to-nose with Sakura. They were so close, he could see each and every detail in her eye.

Realizing he was staring, Sasuke quickly stepped from his seat. "Sorry, here. You can use it," he said. At Neji's laughter, Sasuke turned his head to send a warning glare before recording what he saw on the sheet.

Finishing the rest of the worksheet, he found himself with nothing to do once more. On a whim, he decided to scope out the competition because he needed even and Hyuuga needed to be knocked down a few pegs.

Turning around, he rested his back against the table, getting comfortable for his little snooping when his eyes caught the most interesting little scene. What was he looking at? Hyuuga blushing. You read right, Hyuuga Neji was blushing! What made it even better was that he was blushing at Tenten who was peering into the eyepiece, completely oblivious to what he was doing. She was probably aware that he was looking at her, but what she probably didn't know was that Neji's eyes actually held a look of adoration.

Looking at the scene, watching Neji actually act like he didn't have a stick shoved up his ass proved too much for Sasuke who did the only thing he could at that moment which was smirk. But it wasn't just any smirk—oh no. This was a knowing smirk.

Neji saw it and naturally sent a warning glare, but Sasuke felt too good to let it bother him, choosing to instead smirk wider. He was not without a heart of course and being the kind soul he was, offered the idiot some advice. 'Date her,' he mouthed, only to have Neji curtly reply 'Fuck you.'

Just as Sasuke was going to reply, Sakura looked up from her microscope. Tenten did also, so it wasn't that either of them lost. The battle was just at a mutual truce for the moment.

"Done. Do you need to look at it again?"

"I'm done already." He wasn't bragging. It was just a statement. Sakura merely nodded in understanding.

"Okay," she said turning off the light in the microscope before starting on her sheet. Sasuke was a little surprised because usually at this point, people would ask him for answers. He never gave them (even Naruto couldn't escape that rule), but he did give help, but Sakura wasn't asking for any of that. Then again, she was just as smart as him, so what was the surprise?

"Time to go, Sasuke."

At the sound of her voice, he looked up in surprise to see the class getting ready to go. Sakura was already packed up.

"I brought up your sheet," she explained when he began to look for his class work. Grunting his thanks, he began to strip off the lab coat and get his things together before following Sakura towards the door. He wasn't going to leave with her since he had to wait for Naruto, so he left the slow stream of students to stand just inside the door. Suddenly…

"Bye, Sakura."

"Oh, bye Sasuke! And thanks for the cat food!" she smiled and then she was gone, milling through the hallways, looking like everyone else except for her pink hair.


	13. Day 11: Bad Day

So very tired. Must finish poster for spirit committee. Thank you for the reviews so far.

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Chapter 13: Day 11- Bad Day

When the day started, Sasuke knew something would go wrong. When he woke up, he woke an hour earlier than he had to and couldn't go back to sleep. When breakfast came, his mother tripped and all the food landed on him, forcing him back upstairs for another shower and a change of uniform as his mother apologized and promised to have his clothes like new all the way to his room. He didn't mind, but he wondered how his mother was going to do that to a miso soup-stained shirt. Even his mother didn't have cleaning powers that great, though she had gotten gum off his father's velvet robe without leaving a spot once when he was little.

After breakfast was the walk to school. Though he was safe from the birds, the dog that lived two blocks from his house jumped from his owner's car window and started chasing him.

Did he mention that the dog _hated_ him?

Once safely at school and up the nearest tree, Sasuke phoned the owner: a guy in his twenties living at home with his parents while he took college entrance classes and worked night shift at a bar, and waited until he came to get the dog. Unfortunately, no sooner was he down from the tree did the fangirls descend. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but they were feeling the love this morning and wanted to share it in the form of vigorously chasing him while trying to strip him of his clothing. He escaped, but just barely with assorted scrapes and bruises, one being on his butt where one girl managed to get close enough to pinch him there.

Limping to the nurse's station, he hoped for some bandages and cold compresses from Shizune. Unfortunately, she was tending to their hung-over principal leaving the assistant Kabuto to take care of him. Now, there was nothing wrong with him (his work was almost on par with Shizune's), but there was a level of 'I'm going to kill you as soon as you turn your back' to the guy that made Sasuke uneasy around him. Once the bandaging was done, Sasuke used the last five minutes to get to class where he was, for once, later than the teacher.

"Mr. Uchiha. Glad you could join us and—what the hell happened to you?"

Sasuke glanced at the girls who were waving to him from their seat. "Nothing," he said finally. Kakashi merely shrugged and continued writing on the board.

"Well class, today you'll be getting another project assignment."

The groans echoed the classroom.

"I know. 'How could he give us another project after that last one?' Tough. You should know by now that high school isn't a field of flowers," Kakashi said firmly, "Luckily for you, this project is a four-person project. You may pick your partners however you want, but no more than four."

Excited whispers exploded in the air. Naruto raised his hand. "What's the project about?"

"Just getting to it. Since we're nearing the end of the year and all your teachers will be throwing tests at you with enough power to pierce a hole through the atmosphere, I decided to cut you guys a break. The project is free-range. You can choose whatever you want, but it has to be related to history. Presentation of the information is up to you, but I expect a report from each of you on your topic. No excuses. The project is due March 26th, giving you guys about two weeks. And please, don't make it complicated. Two weeks of prep time this close to the end of the year means I want you guys to take it _easy_. Alright, go!"

The chairs started scraping across the table. Looking across the room, he could see Kakashi lounging by his desk in his usual lackadaisical pose and wondered how he could stand the noise. You'd think he'd be a bit annoyed by how loud it was since he was the type to enjoy quiet, but maybe he'd been teaching for so long that he'd gotten used to it. That or he invested in a good set of ear plugs.

"Teme!"

"Not in my ear!" Sasuke shouted, ears ringing at the sheer intensity of Naruto's scream. He probably lost the ability to hear in that ear.

"So what are we doing? What are we doing? Huh? Huh?"

Sasuke smashed his hand into Naruto's face. "You're like a freaking puppy, I swear," he muttered rubbing his temples.

"So what are we doing?!" Typical Naruto. Doesn't pay attention to anything else but whatever's floating in his head at that moment.

"We need two other people first, dobe."

"Oh, I got that covered! Come on, guys!"

Footsteps came toward him. Surprisingly, he could still hear them through the chatter and looked up to see a familiar pair of girls.

"Hi Sasuke."

"Hello Sasuke-san," greeted the shy Hyuuga girl. Sasuke merely nodded.

"Sakura and Hinata didn't have partners either. Now that you guys are here, we can decide on what we're going to do!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly.

"Any ideas?" Sasuke asked.

"Not really," Hinata murmured shyly.

"I don't have any ideas either," Sakura admitted.

"How about samurai?" Naruto suggested.

"Too overdone."

"Ninja?"

"Again, too overdone, dobe."

"Pirates?"

"You've been reading too many comic books," Sakura said, plopping into an empty chair with a sigh.

"…what about the Tale of Genji?" Sasuke asked.

"What about it?" Sakura asked.

"Well, how about we reenact a scene from it? I mean, we all read it in our classical Japanese literature class, so why not?"

"What the heck does that have to do with history?"

"It was written during the Heian period of Japan and shows the politics of the Imperial Court at the time," Hinata explained, "I think it'll be fun."

"Same here. Naruto?"

Naruto scratched his head. "I don't really get what you're talking about, but okay…"

"Then it's settled. Tale of Genji, it is," Sasuke affirmed when the sudden chime of a cell phone silenced the class, dulling the noise to a bare murmur.

'Whose cell phone is that?' they wondered.

Kakashi reached into his pocket. "Hm. It's my wife," he said, ignoring the sudden swell in noise. "Hello? Honey, I told you not to call me while class is in session and—what? Hold on. Slow down, what's wrong?"

The question caused the noise in the class to swell even further. Who was this woman Kakashi was married to? Since it wasn't Anko or Kurenai, who was she? What did she look like? What type of marriage did they have together? What happened? What was wrong?

"You missed your period? I don't think…what? Three weeks, what does that…? Preg-preg—oh God."

And suddenly the phone was gone as Kakashi began hurriedly packing everything into his briefcase, cursing words they knew and didn't know at a speed they didn't even think was possible as he scribbled on a sheet of lined paper and harshly tacked it into the plaster wall, the wall splintering and cracking under his force.

"Write the people in your group and your topic on the list. I'll check it when I come back. Genma, you're covering for me!" Kakashi shouted, throwing the unsuspecting classical Japanese literature teacher into his classroom as he dashed out.

Genma scratched his head through his bandana and sucked on the toothpick in his mouth. "Anyone want to explain to me what's going on?"

"Kakashi-sensei just found out his wife is pregnant and the sheet on the wall is where we're supposed to write down our project group and topic," a nondescript girl in the front chimed. Genma nodded in understanding and looking at the crack in the wall, sighed and removed the sheet, placing it on a clipboard.

"Kakashi's going to be in for it when he gets back," he muttered to himself before looking to the class, "Okay kiddos, fill it out and pass it around. When you're done…I don't know. This is supposed to be my prep period. Just do whatever."

Sakura blinked. "Wow. Genma is so…not like Kakashi."

Naruto nodded in agreement. Sasuke merely grunted. Though not as blatant as Kakashi, he was still a pervert, hitting on the students and copping a feel from the teachers. Though he was kidding around when he did it, there was an element of 'ew' to what he did since Sasuke had seen him hit on his mom once when parent-teacher conferences came around. All in all, he was an okay teacher, but he'd never really thought of it until then.

A stinging sensation crossed his hand and he looked down to see a cut where his hand and the clipboard met. Putting it down, he placed the cut to his mouth. It wasn't often that Sasuke got hurt during school, but then again, it wasn't often that his mother spilled breakfast on him or he was chased down the street and up a tree by his neighbor's dog. It was a bad day for Uchiha Sasuke, but looking at the splintering crack where bits of plaster continued to flake and fall, he decided that he wasn't the only one having a bad day that morning.

"So what scene are we doing, Sasuke-san?" Hinata asked.

"Well, I have an idea…" Sasuke said, writing their topic and names on the clipboard before passing it to the group behind them, the chatter swallowing up whatever Sasuke said from prying ears.


	14. Day 12: Price

I don't know why, but I feel like plowing through with the rest of this series. It's already halfway done. Can you believe it?

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Chapter 14: Day 12- Price

---

Chopsticks clinked against porcelain plates as food was retrieved. It was dinnertime at the Uchiha household and as per usual, dinner was a quiet, comfortable affair.

Picking up his cup of tea, Sasuke went to take a sip when his mother spoke.

"Itachi called today," she said, oblivious to the splutters and coughs to her right. "Before you ask, Fugaku, his grades are fine. He called to check up on us and Sasuke…"

"Yeah, mom?" he asked pounding on his chest, his eyes watering as his throat burned.

"I—you're never going to believe this, but he said that you got angry at him over the phone."

At his mother's words, Sasuke tensed. He knew what his mom was talking about. It was that web-chat with Itachi. He should've known this would come back to bite him.

"It's nothing, mom. We talked when I caught your flu and I snapped at him. It was probably because I was cooped up in the house for so long and I had a migraine that morning. Don't worry about it. I'll go apologize to him after dinner," he said as he lied through his teeth. It shouldn't have been too hard since that was the same lie Sasuke had repeated over and over to convince himself that the argument had nothing to do with the pink-haired girl living down the block.

"Well, alright…if you say so," his mother said warily.

Fugaku merely grunted.

* * *

Sasuke stared up at his ceiling and sighed. His homework was finished, but no one was online, leaving him with nothing to do. Turning onto his side, he entertained the idea of playing darts or practicing for his martial arts class, but he had finished his workout earlier and darts seemed unfulfilling now that he could nail all of them in the middle from across the room, on the bed, from his bathroom, etc.

Just when he was contemplating an apology to Itachi just to kill time, his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"_Teme!"_

"Dobe," he greeted.

"_So how's the bet going? You still holding up?"_

He scoffed. "Piece of cake."

"_I wouldn't be so sure. You still have 18 days and that's a long time, teme."_

"I'll still win, dobe."

"_Yeah right. I'm going to be the one who wins and when I get that prize, I'm going to laugh it all up in your face."_

"We never agreed on the prize of the bet."

"_We didn't? I thought we did."_

"We didn't. I was just waiting for you to figure it out."

"_Well, geez, you could've told me so I didn't sound like an idiot just now."_

"Coulda, shoulda, woulda—didn't feel like it."

"_Fine. We'll just do it now."_

"So what do you want?" Sasuke asked, bored.

"_Ramen, obviously. From Ichiraku. One month's worth."_

"A week. It's not like we bet on anything important."

"_Fine. What do you want?"_

"Hmmm…"

What did he want? He already had enough money to last him a while, all the manga he wanted was already available to him, and he was very content with the items he had now. Suddenly, it hit him.

"I don't want to referee your stupid matches with my brother."

"_Okay."_

"And…"

"_And…?"_

"And I want Hyuuga Neji as my replacement."

"_How the hell am I supposed to that? Neji's going to kill me if I even get anywhere near him!"_ Naruto shouted.

"Not my problem."

"_Come on, teme! I'm going to die and my prize isn't too bad."_

"A week of ramen for you is six months for another person," Sasuke said rolling his eyes. "So do we have a deal?"

"_Teme, please! I'm begging you!"_

"So you don't want the Ichiraku ramen?" Sasuke asked slyly.

"…"

"Well?"

"_I hate you."_

"Prepare to pay up, dobe."

And then he hung up the phone and went to sleep.


	15. Day 13: Camping Trip, Day 1

So if you haven't found out yet, hello. I am Pleasantries and the Aftermath, aka moodiful819. Thank you for reading this message. Now off to the chapter!** ZOOM!**

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Chapter 15: Camping Trip, Day 1

--

Uchiha Mikoto was a sharp woman. She knew when her children were lying to her, when her husband was tired and needed a hug and a kiss, and when Itachi was planning on tacking Sasuke to the fence with her knife set under the guise of showing his brother a magic trick (though that hadn't happened in years). So when her normally quiet house was disturbed by the sound of rustling, Mikoto was suspicious.

"Sasuke…what are you doing?"

A loud 'thud' was heard, accompanied by a low curse before Sasuke responded. "I'm just finishing packing. My school trip is today," he shouted.

That got her attention. "Wah! I completely forgot! Will you be alright packing? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Will there be food there? Should I pack you some food for the bus ride? I'll make you some snacks," his mother said before rushing into the kitchen.

Sasuke sighed from within his room. His mother was overreacting again. But truth be told, that was his exact same reaction when he realized he forgot to do something last night (explaining the suspicious amount of free time). Luckily, he remembered that the school camping trip was the next day (today) and woke up to pack before going back to bed. As for the trip, it was supposedly to foster relations between students, but since it was the end of the year and a moot point, it was just an excuse to miss three days of school. Not that he had a problem with it.

'_Though that means I'll be stuck with dobe again. The teachers too. Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi, I don't mind that much—Iruka too—but then there's __**Anko**__. Gai might be there too and I do __**not**__ want to listen to another lecture on how I should smile more because I'm in the prime of my youth and I should be happier about it.' _

Of course, there were other people he'd be stuck with on this trip like the Hyuuga and Gai's freakish sidekick who was a miniature version of him. A certain pink-haired girl was also going to be on the trip, but he wasn't thinking about her—or at least, that was what he was trying to tell himself.

'_At least our groups and chaperones are split up by our first class of our day.' _

Of course, he forgot that it meant a certain pink-haired girl was going to be in _his_ group and they'd be on the same bus and doing camp activities _together_, but denial was always a grand thing.

Quickly shoving a pair of ear plugs into his messenger bag—Naruto snored like a freaking bear—he checked his room for anything he'd missed. He'd brought enough clothes for three days and some sleeping clothes, a pack of cards, some bug spray, and his toiletries were already packed. Looking through his messenger bag, he rifled through it. He'd fill his water bottle when he got downstairs and just as he was leaving, he picked up a book and headed downstairs.

* * *

"Hey teme!" Naruto shouted, only for a cuff to the head to silence him.

"Not so loud, dobe. People are still sleeping," Sasuke said coolly, the sound of schoolyard chatter floating lightly around them as they walked towards the bus taking them to the campgrounds.

Naruto grumbled. "Ah, whatever. You're late!" he shouted accusingly.

Sasuke grunted and folded his arms. "My mom was shoving snacks on me and running through the gamut of things to bring."

At the idea of food, Naruto's face lit up. "Your mom made snacks? What is it? Cookies? Cake? What?"

"It's cookies. And can't you wait until we get on the bus?" Sasuke asked as the line began to move forward, Iruka waving people onto the bus.

"Are you kidding? Your mom makes the best food in the world! I wish she was my mom," he said with a dreamy sigh, images of food dancing in his head. Sasuke shook his head disapprovingly. Once they got seated, he reached into his bag and threw a wrapped object at Naruto's head. "Down, boy. Here."

Naruto groaned and rubbed his forehead with one hand while the other held his treats. "Thanks…I guess," he said as the bus gunned the engine.

"Hn," was all Sasuke said before the bus began moving and he started staring out the window.

* * *

Gravel crunched as the bus slowly rolled to a stop. As the engine shut off, the door opened with a blood-curdling shriek of its hinges, followed by a chorus of slamming bus windows and labored gasps. One of which, happened to belong to Uchiha Sasuke.

"You just had to have beans this morning," Sasuke stated flatly, vein ticking on his forehead as his head dangled limply from the open window.

"Heh heh, sorry teme," Naruto apologized sheepishly.

Sasuke merely sighed. He would glare in this situation, but that would mean sticking his head back in the bus, and he was already close to death as it was. Plus, the other kids on the bus seemed to have the situation under control if the buckets of sweat coming off the blonde-haired boy were anything to go by. But really, it was just Sasuke's luck to sit next to the one idiot who would eat beans for breakfast the morning of a three-hour bus trip. Then again, it could've been worse. He could've started farting at the beginning of the trip instead of the very end.

Satisfied the bus was safe enough that the methane levels wouldn't kill him, Sasuke promptly retrieved his head from the window and fisted his hand in his best friend's shirt. "You do that again and I swear, you will have wished anyone else on this bus would've killed you first."

Thankfully, Naruto's brain was working well enough to register the threat and satisfied with his work, Sasuke plopped back into his seat.

"Okay, well…" Iruka coughed at the front of the bus, his sleeve over his nose, "now that that's over, please begin exiting the bus. Line up in roll-call order with your luggage and we'll start dividing you into your cabin groups."

It wasn't long until half the bus was empty (seeing how everyone ran out to escape the smell) and the back began to exit. Once outside, Sasuke retrieved his bag and reached in to grab the small spray bottle of fabric refresher, spraying it all over his clothes. He'd have to thank his mother later. Who knew it'd come in handy?

"Sasuke-san."

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hearing the familiar voice, he turned on instinct, jumping slightly when he saw who it was. "Hinata. Sakura," he greeted, turning his head away. Unfortunately for him, it was about this time that Naruto decided to make himself known.

"Hi Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan! When did you get here? Did teme say hi to you guys yet and—teme, are you _blushing?!_" he shouted, only for Sasuke to punch his head into the sand.

"Idiot," he muttered hotly.

"Really, Sasuke. I expected for you to at least wait until tomorrow to beat your friend senseless."

At the sound of the new voice, everyone turned. "Yo," the voice greeted.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried boisterously. "Why are you here? And who's the lady next to you? She's hot! Does she work here?" he asked, only to have a fist connect with the back of his head.

"Stop being an idiot," Sasuke grumbled before bowing. "Kakashi-sensei. Megumi-san."

"Sasuke," they greeted.

Naruto spat out the sand from his mouth and glared at his friend. "Stop hitting me! And you still haven't told me who she is. And how do you know her?"

"Because dobe, that's his wife," Sasuke said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the woman who merely waved.

"…Huh?!" the camp cried, suddenly swarming around the couple. They would finally see Kakashi's elusive wife. The woman he left Anko for. Though they expected an exotic blonde or a dominatrix (both well-endowed), what they got was something completely different.

Hatake Megumi stood at 5'5", a full head shorter than her husband. Her black hair, reaching the middle of her back, was tied in a ponytail. Her brown eyes glowed warmly as she smiled and greeted the crowd in her red-polka-dotted orange bikini. Other than her slightly larger than normal bust, she looked like any Japanese woman you would find on the street. She looked…normal.

"And you married this guy?!" Naruto shouted incredulously, saying what everyone else was thinking, but was too afraid to say out loud. Kakashi glared at the boy. His wife merely smiled. Frankly, Sasuke couldn't blame Naruto. That was the same reaction he had the first time he met Kakashi's wife.

"Sensei…" Sakura began, "you still haven't told us why you're here. Weren't Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei supposed to be here?" The crowd murmured in agreement.

"Well, Kurenai went into labor this morning so Asuma asked if my wife and I could substitute for them, and we agreed."

"But I thought you hated these kinds of things, sensei," a random girl in the crowd asked.

Kakashi smiled. "I do."

"Then why are you here?"

"I didn't say it was my idea," he said trailing his gaze to his wife. She merely looked away innocently. Then…

"Alright!" Anko shouted as she bounded up the beach, a reluctant Iruka in tow. For a brief minute, Sasuke felt his heart go out to Iruka. He could only imagine what life with Anko was like and even then, it wasn't pretty.

"The gang's all here. Now it's a party!" Anko said triumphantly. Kakashi merely waved his hand.

"Hai, hai. Meanwhile, aren't you all supposed to be getting your cabin assignments?" he asked with a strange glint in his eye as he looked at the crowd of students before him.

And just like that, the beach was empty, the students standing in neat rows by the buses. Anko blinked. "You're good."

Kakashi smiled smugly to himself. "I try."

* * *

Leaves crunched underfoot as Sasuke wandered the camp grounds. It was just before dinner and not wanting to wait around in the cabin until then, Sasuke decided to look around.

'_Not that there was much to look at,'_ he thought as he recounted the camp area in his mind. The road they had come up on lead straight into the eating area. To the left of that was the lake and the dock; to the right, the cafeteria where Genma's class was cooking tonight (each class had cooking duty on the trip). The only thing worth mentioning was the creek he found in the forest by the cabins. That being said, he was _not_ looking forward to free time.

'_Still, this trip isn't a total loss.'_ During cabin assignments, it seemed that Sasuke and Naruto managed to get a cabin to themselves. Each cabin was supposed to have four people living in them, but since they had two people left and the teachers couldn't just force them into a cabin that was already full, they got their own. Sure, he was still stuck with the snoring bear, but at least he wasn't trapped with the Hyuuga.

And to make it even better, since they had so many boys on the trip, the boy's side of camp ran out of cabins meaning the two of them had their cabin on the girls' side. Now it wasn't that for perverted purposes that Sasuke was glad to be on the girls' side (leave that to Naruto), but since the girls weren't allowed to enter the boy's sleeping quarters and vice versa, it meant Hyuuga couldn't bother him at all unless it was during a group activity.

'_Though the bathroom situation was worrying,'_ Sasuke thought as he remembered his initial reaction to the tour of the girl's section. Luckily, both the bathrooms on the grounds had a male-female division, though it was only on the female side that both divisions were being used.

'_Now all I have to worry about is any girls trying to rape me in my sleep,'_ he thought, a feeling of nausea washing over him as he remembered his school trip with Karin. He was so overcome with disgust in fact, that he didn't even notice the person walking directly towards him.

"Ouch!"

"Sakura?"

"Sasuke-kun," she greeted rubbing her forehead and mimicking his actions. "What are you doing here?"

"Just exploring the camp area. You?"

"I was just leaving my cabin," she said pointing to the cabin next to the counselor cabin where Anko and Megumi were staying. His cabin was just on the other side.

"Really?" Sakura asked. Crap, had he said that out loud? "Wow, small world. Same neighborhood and the same area of camp," Sakura giggled.

"Yeah…weird…" Sasuke replied softly as he scratched his head and stared at the floor. He wasn't acting awkward. He'd never act awkward because Uchihas never acted awkward and just because he was staring at the ground and refusing to meet her gaze didn't mean he was—crap, he was acting awkward.

"So…what did you think of Kakashi's wife?" he asked.

"Oh, she seems nice. I just never expected her to be so…so…"

"Normal?" Sasuke interjected.

Sakura nodded. "Yeah! That's the word! But I was surprised. You didn't seem shocked at all when you saw her."

"Yeah, well…I take martial arts on the weekends and Kakashi's my teacher there. His wife comes all the time to bring over his lunch and they're kind of friends with my parents, so I guess I just got used to it," Sasuke explained, rubbing the back of his neck. That was the first time he'd ever said anything like that to a girl.

Lifting his gaze, he noticed that she was paying close attention to what he was saying. Normally when he talked to girls, they'd only be staring at his face. To them, he could've told them a detailed story about him gutting a puppy and they wouldn't have noticed, but Sakura was different. She paid attention to what he had to say. To be honest…it was kind of nice.

Feeling her eyes still on him, Sasuke felt his face flush slightly. He would never say that he blushed because first, Uchiha men never blushed and secondly, because saying he blushed would imply he would have some kind of feelings for one Haruno Sakura—which he didn't!—meaning he would've lost the bet and Uchihas never lose. Clearing his throat, he turned to her. "So what'd you bring for the trip?"

"Oh, a CD player, some magazines, a book. That sort of stuff," she said offhandedly. "What about you?"

"Oh, um, pretty much the same. I brought some cards. If you want to play after dinner…"

"I'd love to! Can I bring some friends?" she asked.

"Um, sure. I guess," he said. It couldn't be too bad. She'd most likely bring Tenten and Hinata since they were the only people he ever saw her hang out with and he didn't mind them that much. He wouldn't, especially since the alternative would be asking the Hyuuga or Lee to play since playing cards with Naruto was like playing with a cardboard cutout and he was _not_ going to go crawling to Neji to ask him to play. He'd rather kill himself first than give Hyuuga the satisfaction.

"Great. We'll meet after dinner?" she asked.

"Sure," he said taking the upmost care not to let his excitement leak into his voice—not that he was excited, mind you.

Noticing she was still there, he decided to study her seeing as there was nothing else to do.

She was skinny, but not like some of the girls around school that looked like they hadn't eaten in years, and other than her slightly larger-than-normal forehead and strange hair and eye color, she looked normal. Maybe even cute.

Whoa, back up there Uchiha. Dangerous territory. Back up slowly. You remember there's still a bet going on and you don't want to lose all your money paying for Naruto's food bill, do you?

"Of course not," he snorted to himself.

"Did you say something?"

"Nothing," Sasuke said hastily. "Is there something you wanted to ask me? You've been standing there a while."

"Oh! Um yeah, you said you take martial arts, right?"

"Yeah, that's right," Sasuke said, turning to face her a little bit more.

"Well, I was wondering—only if you have some time to kill!—would you mind showing me a few moves?"

Sasuke couldn't believe it. Had Haruno Sakura asked him to show off for her? Was she…attracted to him?

'_Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!Yes!!!'_ he screamed in his mind before realizing how embarrassing that was, even if it was just in his mind. And don't get him wrong. He wasn't happy at the fact that there was a slight chance she liked him—of course not. He was happy because he was one step closer to winning the bet.

Realizing that he had stood there for five seconds without saying anything, he decided it would be good to say something before he risked alienating her.

Turning to her, he smiled. "Sure, I'd be happy to."

"Really?!" Sakura exclaimed. "Thank you so much, Sasuke-kun!" she shouted, running up to hug him. The action caught Sasuke off-guard because rarely had he ever had a girl just hug him. Sure, there were the attempted-rapes, the groping, but never just a hug.

Awkwardly, he began to shift his arms around her when…

"Dinner's ready! Roll-call order first or no food!" Anko barked.

Sakura quickly let go. "Well, I guess we better go," she said, already making her way through the bushes when she turned. "Aren't you coming, Sasuke?"

"Hn? Oh, in a minute," he answered. Sakura merely shrugged and walked away.

Truth be told, Sasuke had barely listened to her question, too busy staring down at the place she had been just a few moments ago when he shook his head. He could hear Anko yelling for the stragglers to come in and wading through the bushes, he made a mental note to grab the deck of cards from his cabin and to meet with her a little later.

Walking through the bushes, Sasuke smiled to himself. He had the feeling he'd enjoy free time after all.


	16. Day 14: Camping Trip, Day 2 pt1

Well, the camp arc is apparently going to be a very, very long arc in terms of the story, meaning long chapters for you. Also, on my other account is an AMV contest. Prize is a oneshot of a pairing of your choice (preferably in a fandom I'm well-acquainted with). If you're interested, tell me.

**On a separate note, the end of the chapter ended up being very, very emo. First person to tell me which anime I ripped that scene off of gets a drabble from me! :D**

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Ch.16: Day 14- Camping Trip, Day 2 pt. 1

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Uchiha Sasuke was a morning person. It wasn't a surprise, really. His father was a morning person and his father's father had been a morning person as well. And quite frankly, there were few things Uchiha Sasuke disliked about mornings. First of all, it was quiet (a rarity when one was friends with Uzumaki Naruto). Secondly, he enjoyed the lull that fell over the world as the sun rose into the sky, and thirdly, it allowed for some time to himself to meditate or take a morning walk. (Contrary to popular belief, he actually enjoyed the feeling of sunshine on his face.)

But when Uchiha Sasuke woke up that morning, there was only one thing on his mind.

'_Fuck,'_ Sasuke thought to himself bitterly as he nursed his throbbing head and stifled a yawn. Though he wasn't one to curse often, he couldn't help himself and if he had been in the right state of mind, he would've realized what a poor choice of words that was. Why do you ask? Very simple, really. After free time last night, the students were rounded into their cabins for bed while the teachers did a cabin check to see if everyone was where they were supposed to be. Seeing how it would be natural for a student to see a teacher walking around at night, it wasn't a surprise to anyone that Kakashi was roaming the grounds last night.

What they didn't know was that Kakashi was wandering towards the female teachers' cabin, or that he was going to have sex with his wife in said cabin, consequently keeping Sasuke up until three in the morning given that the cabins were right next to each other. Unfortunately for Sasuke, wake-up call was at seven.

'_I'll say one thing. Kakashi's wife sure can scream,'_ Sasuke thought tiredly, remembering how his ear plugs did nothing to muffle the sounds before wincing at the pain that lanced though his head. It felt like a drill bit was biting into his skull and looking around, he realized he wasn't the only one who had heard their lovemaking. Feeling his head throb painfully again, he made a silent oath to himself to kick Kakashi where it counted the next time they sparred. Maybe then, he'd learn the idea of self-control.

A hand clapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi teme! Great morning, huh? Smell that fresh mountain air." Of course, leave it to Naruto to sleep through anything.

"Shut up, dobe. I didn't get any sleep last night," he said cradling his head. Hearing footsteps coming towards him, he cast his eyes to the left to see a haggard-looking Neji and Shikamaru hobbling towards them.

"You too, Uchiha?" Neji asked, too tired for any verbal sparring.

"Yeah. Be happy you weren't at the epicenter." He grunted. "How you holding up, Nara?"

Said boy threw back his head and yawned. "Didn't sleep a wink either. I'll be fine though. I'll just sleep through activities," Shikamaru said scratching his head idly. In the distance, a teacher called out for roll-call and they headed towards the lines with Naruto running to catch up, falling into step with his friends, his hands clasped behind his neck.

"Aw come on, you guys. Why are you three so tired? I slept fine!" he said with a grin. Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke glared in return.

"Unfortunately, we all can't be blessed with your ability to sleep though anything," Neji said contemptuously, the effect lost due to the dark rings around his eyes.

Sasuke snorted in agreement. "Yeah while you slept fine, the rest of us were kept up all night by Kakashi and his wife," Sasuke said motioning to the hordes of people walking around them with shadows under their eyes and hands pressed to their heads.

"Huh? What happened to everyone?"

"Troublesome. We just told you what happened. If you want to know all the details, go ask someone else in Genma's group. There's a group of boys who saw firsthand what was going on," Shikamaru murmured as he stood in line for the headcount. Really, he was in no mood to babysit the class idiot. How troublesome.

"Fine, I will," Naruto said resolutely.

Meanwhile, a few spots ahead, Sasuke was nodding off. A hand on his shoulder roused him from his slumber.

"Wake up, Sasuke."

Blinking his eyes, he looked up blearily. "Sakura?"

Said girl nodded and watched him rub his eyes with concern. "Are you alright? You look like you haven't slept. You and half the camp, actually."

Sasuke nodded absentmindedly before turning to her. "Wait, you didn't hear anything last night?"

"Hear what, Sasuke?" she asked. Looking up, he noted that her face carried none of the signs of sleep-deprivation his did.

"Never mind, it's nothing," he said. Up at the front of the lines, Iruka was making announcements that they would be heading for showers next. Sasuke smiled to himself. Maybe a cold shower would wake him up.

Sakura shrugged to herself. "Anyway, I can't wait for later," she said cheerfully.

"Huh? What's going on later?"

"Oh right, you were sleeping. Well, Anko said after breakfast, we're all going to change into our swimwear and swim in the lake!" she said with a smile.

Unbeknownst to her, as soon as those words left her mouth, image upon image of Sakura in a swimsuit leapt into Sasuke's mind. The most prominent one involved a close-up of a water droplet that fell down the middle of her chest, and it took all the energy he had not to groan.

Unfortunately for him, the groups were yet to be dismissed for showers since the morning's announcements were still being made. Idly, Sasuke looked around, spotting Sakura not too far ahead chatting with Tenten. Instantly the image of the water drop reappeared in his mind; Sasuke rubbed his eyes tiredly and let out a small sigh.

He could really use that cold shower right about now.

* * *

Naruto was, in all purposes of the word, a pervert. He looked at porn; he attempted to peer into the girl's locker room (usually with disastrous results); and if asked, could recite word for word the volumes of Icha Icha his guardian, Jiraiya, wrote with his own additional commentary. So when he heard the idea of seeing girls in swimsuits, he quickly demolished his breakfast to change and be the first one at the lake. Of course, no one told him how it was going to be…

"Boring!" Naruto complained with a sigh as he stared out at the scenery, the objects of his fantasy all wrapped in towels. There was no need, of course. The weather was warm enough that a person could sit in their swimwear without worrying about catching a cold, but unfortunately for Naruto, only the guys were exercising that rule; and really, where was the fun in ogling a bunch of _men?_

"Being your typical perverted self?" a voice asked, producing a large round of girlish squeals as towels were dropped to produce hands that shot up in greeting of the voice's owner, much to Naruto's delight.

"At least I don't repress my desires. Sometimes I wonder if you really are straight, but thanks for the help with the girls. I owe you," Naruto whispered, turning his head. Sasuke merely shook his head in friendly disapproval and waved his friend towards the lake.

* * *

It was a quiet day at the lake. The birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and the water calmly lapped at the beach shoreline. It was the picture of peaceful perfection.

"Is anyone actually going to go in?" Kakashi asked, sweat-dropping as he stared out at the crowd of teenagers fiddling on the shore.

"It looks dirty," one girl complained. Kakashi turned his head towards the crystal blue water.

"It looks fine to me," he said adjusting the inner tube on his shoulder. "You guys are just being difficult now," he sighed exasperatedly, "we're on a school trip where all you have to do is relax. Now stop acting like a bunch of weirdoes and get in the lake."

'_You're wearing a mask on the beach, and you're calling us weird?' _the students thought in chorus as they stared at the white scrap of cotton on their teacher's face. Of course, they wouldn't question it. They'd learned over the years that almost all the teachers at their school had some weird quirk or another. Besides, questioning the man who held their grades in his hand seemed like a foolish (and suicidal) endeavor. Still, no one made a move for the lake.

'_Can't say I didn't try,'_ Kakashi thought to himself with a shrug. Honestly, he didn't even want to come out to the lake. After being drafted into this trip by his wife, he had been planning on spending a little alone time with his wife. But after last night's little escapade, Tsunade phoned in to tell him his punishment: lifeguard duty.

'_Now I'm stuck babysitting a bunch of teens in swimwear. I mean, it's less work for me if they don't go in, but still, it's pretty pathetic if all they're going to do is stand around.'_

At least he had the pleasure of punishing those three brats who had watched his little endeavor with his wife. _'Bathroom clean-up. That'll teach them,'_ he thought with a satisfied smirk. It was quite cruel of him; those bathrooms had been absolutely filthy, and this was on top of having scared the boys out of their wits. But strangely, he felt no remorse.

'_Though I need to have a little chat with Anko on what it means to be a watch-out.'_ A shout roused him of his thoughts.

"Hey, isn't that Kakashi's wife?"

Following the boy's finger, he peered out to the dock. Halfway between the water and a group of girls peering uneasily at the water was indeed his wife.

'_What is she doing?'_ he asked himself, dropping the inner tube to run over to her, watching as she took a deep breath. Raising her arms over her head, Megumi got into a running start, cart-wheeling on the dock before going into a handspring that flung her into the air. Her faint scream of "cannonball" served as her only warning before a wave of water crashed onto the dock, splashing onto Kakashi and his now-soaked mask and effectively ruining his plans to stay dry today.

Staring at what had just happened on the dock, it was at that moment that everyone realized why he chose her as his wife despite her chest size: she was a gymnast. As for what she saw in him, the world may never know.

The teens now swarmed the area around the dock, staring pensively as small bubbles made their way to the surface. A dark shadow could be seen under the water and a few seconds later, Megumi resurfaced, slicking her hair back before turning to the teens with a grin.

"Come on in! The water's great!" she screamed from the middle of the lake. And as if on cue, the teens began swarming into the water.

Screams and raucous laughter began filling the air as Megumi slowly swam back towards shore. Upon reaching the dock, she noticed a dangling hand. Looking up, she realized it to be her husband.

"What were you thinking?" he asked as he pulled her up from the water, covering her head with a towel.

Megumi shrugged. "Someone had to get those kids in the lake," she said, a small pout evident in her voice as she began drying her hands. Feeling hands overlap hers, she looked up to see Kakashi looking at her warmly.

"You know, you ruined my mask and my plans to stay dry today. How are you going to make it up to me?" he asked her with a smile.

She smiled and hiding his head with her towel, removed his mask and pulled him down for a kiss.

"_I'll think of something."_

* * *

"Kyaaa! Kyaaa! Kyaa!" screamed Sasuke's fans as he sat on the sandy shore, his back towards them. Looking at the watch he left on his blanket, he saw that it was nearing twelve. By his calculations, that means those girls had been at it for two hours now.

"Don't you think you should do something?" Naruto asked, plopping onto the towel beside him.

"It'll only get worse if I do," Sasuke replied, which was true. Generally in the past when he had tried to quiet the girls, the fact he had talked to them would send them into an even larger frenzy. When he ignored them, they generally kept their screams to a minimum. Of course, he had been wearing more than a pair of swim trunks those times.

Suddenly hearing the noise suddenly raise in volume, he smashed his hands against his ears.

"Seems like it's getting worse anyway," Naruto shouted. Turning his head, Sasuke sighed to himself. Great, even the dobe was plugging his ears.

"Having trouble with your fans?" Neji asked haughtily. Sasuke hadn't even heard him come over.

"Not more than usual," Sasuke lied, only to shove his hands further against his ears as the screams reached fever pitch. He could already see the cogs of their twisted fantasies of a relationship between him and Neji turning. Of course, Neji was apathetic to these fantasies (the workings of lesser brains were of no concern to him), but Sasuke found solace that even Neji was suffering from the decibels of their screams.

As if overjoyed that Neji had been affected by their screams, their screams somehow got even louder (how they had managed that, Sasuke had no clue). And unable to take it anymore, Sasuke snapped, turning his head to produce the most scathing glare he could muster. Luckily for him, it worked and the girls quickly quieted, settling to hide behind whatever they could to admire from afar. A few feet away by the cafeteria, he could hear the quiet, adoring sighs of Neji's admirers and sighed himself. Why couldn't his fans be more like that?

Tired, he flopped down onto the blanket. After breakfast, he had taken a quick nap to relieve his migraine (it only took a few minutes for him to change anyway and he'd finished breakfast rather quickly), but that little episode had brought his headache back, now throbbing painfully in the forefront of his mind.

"I'm moving," Sasuke said abruptly, interrupting Naruto's one-sided argument with Neji, causing the two boys to stare in surprise at the boy. Sasuke didn't notice, too busy putting on his watch before leaving. He didn't bother taking his towel since Naruto could just return it to the cabin when he left and he knew his fangirls wouldn't take it, not with so many witnesses around and Neji to contend with. (Despite their rivalry, Neji was someone he could count on. Maybe his obsession with honor was a good thing?)

Walking along the beach, he peered out at the faces. Nara was asleep on a towel besides Temari who was staring out at the water, her head cradled in her hand. A couple towels away, a group of guys were playing with a frisbee; in the water, he could see one of his classmates dunking his friend under the water, and further down on the beach, Megumi played with Kakashi's hair as he slept.

His feet kept wandering, leading him near the area of the lake where the dock was. Sitting down, he turned to his right to see who would be jumping off. Since Megumi jumped, the dock had become a popular place to show off, though not to the extent Megumi had. (The school's gymnastics team was on a trip to nationals, after all.)

Peering closer, he was just in time to see someone disappear under the water before another person followed suit. Feeling his eyes droop, he got up and went back to his cabin for some sleep.

* * *

Sasuke sat on the beach. It was almost six and in the distance, the sun was setting over the mountains. Feeling the wind blow across his cheeks, he looked out over the scenery. The crystal blue water had taken on the oranges and pinks of the sky and the teens that had been swarming the lake were now either higher up on the beach or in their cabins. Only the die-hards were still in the water.

"Look at her, Haruno!"

'_Huh?'_ Sasuke asked to himself, turning his head towards the sound. There, near the edge of the dock, were Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and three other girls. Peering closer, he noticed one of the girls grasping Sakura by her arm.

"You stupid whore! Because of you, Aiko's boyfriend dumped her! You slut!" the arm-grabbing girl shouted, pointing to her friend who was crying. The third girl merely held the crying girl closer, consoling her.

"What?" Sakura asked in surprise.

"Hey Nami, Sakura didn't do anything!" Tenten shouted irately.

"Stuff it. We're not talking to you. We're talking to your friend, but why you're friends with her, I have no clue," the first girl sneered before turning to her target. "Now are you going to apologize?"

Sakura shoved the girl off her. "I feel sorry for your friend, but I didn't do anything. Now if you'll excuse me, my class has kitchen duty tonight," she said heading towards her friends.

Nami stared in shock at the vacant space between her arms. Realizing Sakura had moved, she turned to the girl. "Hey! I'm not done talking to you!" she shouted, grabbing Sakura and spinning her.

Sakura pushed at her arms. "Let go!"

"No!" Nami shouted in reply.

"I'm serious. Let go of me!" Sakura said, struggling in her captor's grip. Nami smirked.

"Fine."

And that was the last thing Sakura heard before she felt a pressure on her chest and her world wobbled, then pitched backwards. A jolt hit her head and she felt cold water on her back before it swallowed her whole. As she fell in the water, she thought she saw something, but her vision soon faded to black; the sound of rising bubbles filling her senses.

* * *

"Sakura!" Tenten screamed worriedly, tears falling down her face as she dropped to her knees on the dock. Behind her, the teachers were running towards the scene. Water was splattered everywhere and the faint sound of coughing could be heard over the murmuring of the crowd of students. Kakashi was the first to speak.

"What happened?"

Sasuke looked up from the girl in his arms and blinked vacantly. Before he could open his mouth to speak, a voice interrupted. "Sakura was shoved into the lake. Sasuke-san saved her!"

"Is this true?" the silver-haired man asked?

Sasuke could only nod numbly as he stood over Sakura, who was now resting on the ground, thankful that Hinata had spoken for him.

To be honest, Sasuke hadn't even remembered moving. One minute, he was sitting on the beach looking at the dock, and the next thing he knew, he was coming up from the water, panting for air and telling Sakura to wake up. It all felt like a dream, but his heart was still racing and his hair was soaking wet. Tenten was still crying on the dock.

"Move aside!" Anko barked as Megumi pushed her way through the crowd. Running to Sakura, she searched for a pulse and pressed her ear to Sakura's mouth, sighing in relief.

Helping the girl up, Megumi gently patted the girl's back, watching as she coughed up water. "She has some water in her lungs, but she'll be alright. She needs some rest though. Someone help me get her back to our cabin."

"I'll do it," Sasuke volunteered, scooping Sakura up in his arms. Anko merely nodded and the two women led the way back to the cabin. Around them, the crowd began murmuring louder. Turning his head, Sasuke could see the teachers talking to the three girls and spotted Neji by Tenten who was still on the dock. Stretching his senses, he smiled to himself. Tenten wasn't crying anymore.


	17. Day 14: Camping Trip, Day 2 pt2

Two chapters in a day—well, writing it anyway—but hey, it's still a record! Hurray! **And another opportunity for a drabble/oneshot. First person to name the manga where that scene is from gets it! Go!**

And the answer from last chapter was Ouran, and the winner is: **fanpire329**! Congratulations!

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Ch 17: Day 14- Camping Trip, Day 2 pt.2

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Pots and pans clanged around the kitchen. It was the second day of camp, meaning it was Kakashi's class' turn to cook. Having done inventory of what they had brought, it was decided that they would make curry and quickly divided the labor. The group with Naruto and Hinata was in charge of peeling the vegetables. The group with Shikamaru and Temari was in charge of making the rice (hopefully Nara didn't fall asleep and burn it), and Neji and Tenten's group was in charge of preparing the meat and cooking the meal at the end. As for Sasuke, his group was supposed to chop the vegetables.

An audible sigh left the raven-haired teen's lips. It wasn't that he didn't like doing this—on the contrary, he did this for his mother all the time at home—but for some reason he couldn't focus.

'_Must still be the shock,'_ he thought, placing the knife down. Wiping his hands on the standard white apron they had received, he used his wrist to push a strand of hair from his eyes and straightened the white bandana on his head. Looking around at everyone, he chuckled to himself. They looked like a bunch of ghosts.

"Something funny?"

Sasuke nearly leapt out of his skin. "Sakura!" he said, surprised, "I didn't see you there. What brings you here?"

"Sasuke, I'm in your class too, remember? I have kitchen duty too!"

Sasuke's brow raised and he turned back to the potato in his hand. "Of course I remember you're in my class," he said, his bangs falling to cover his face. "But are you sure you should be moving around so much after what happened?"

"The teachers said as long as I don't push myself, I'll be fine! So Sasuke-kun, what should I do?" she asked, finishing the knot on her bandana. That's when he noticed it.

"You got your hair cut…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I cut it a few days ago. Weird, huh?" she asked thumbing the ends of her chin-length hair before turning to him with a smile.

"No. It looks nice," he complimented before turning to the table behind them, "our group is supposed to chop vegetables. Make them an inch to an inch-and-a-half. Think you can handle it?"

Seeing his brow raised in challenge, Sakura quickly grabbed the potato from his hand. "Of course."

Sasuke merely shrugged his shoulders. "Alright," he said handing her the knife before returning to his work. Concentrating was difficult though. Outside, Shikamaru had dozed off while washing the rice and judging by Temari's annoyed shouts, he'd messed up in a way that forced them to rewash the rice. And as if it wasn't loud enough already, Naruto had apparently cut himself with the peeler and was starting to shout with Hinata trying to calm him down.

Sighing quietly to himself, he turned back to his chore and quickly chopped the potato in his hands, sweeping it into the awaiting bin before grabbing another and repeating the process. Falling into a rhythm, he allowed his eyes to flick over to Sakura's station, telling himself it was just to see how well she was doing and if she looked like she needed to stop and rest. A voice in the back of his mind gave a skeptical 'su-u-u-re…'

Quickly shoving the voice away, he watched her hands dance across the board. _'She has good knife-skills,'_ he noted and turned back to his task when a sharp hiss took his attention away. Looking up, he saw Sakura holding her thumb, a small smear of blood on her knife.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you doing?"

Sasuke looked up, startled to see Sakura staring at him. Following her gaze, he saw he was holding her hand to his mouth. The loud kitchen was suddenly deathly silent.

"Oh!" he said quickly letting go of her hand. "I saw you had a cut. I was just cleaning it. My mom used to do the same for me when I was little. Sorry. I didn't even know I was doing it."

"Oh, thanks," she said, her voice showing her slight confusion at his actions. From the other side of the kitchen, Hinata came and urged her out the door with Naruto, undoubtedly headed to the female teachers' cabin for first aid.

The door closing behind them, the kitchen erupted into speculation. Sasuke caught snippets of it as he picked up the knife again. Most of it was just people wondering if Sasuke had a crush on her. Sasuke snorted softly to himself. Yeah right, like he'd ever like her. She was merely a girl he had placed a bet on. At the very most, she was a friend, but he'd never like her.

Letting the knife's weight flow through him, he turned to the onion to dice it, lifting his knife up and down as his left hand passed it through. His eyes flickered to the left, but every time he caught himself doing that, he'd quickly return his attention to the knife, but every time, his eye would wander back to the red splotch on the board. Sighing to himself, he set down his knife and crossed over to Sakura's station. Quickly looking through the potatoes, he removed the bloodied ones and placed the clean ones in the bin before washing her board.

Finally, the knife. Picking up her knife, he stared at it, watching the light bounce off the metal. An image of her hands dancing across the board flashed across his mind before he rinsed it and set it back in its place. Walking back to his station, he started working again, the kitchen noise floating through his ears.


	18. Day 15: Camping Trip, Day 3

Okay, I'm writing the first half the same day I wrote chapter 16 and 17, but I finished the second half when I took a break from studying for my AP's, so if my style has changed, I apologize.

**And the answer to which scene the last chapter was from was Mars. Since no one guessed, no prize. :(**

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Ch.18: Day 15- Camping Trip, Day 3

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Sasuke wandered the area behind his cabin. It was late afternoon and he could feel the setting sun wash over his back as he stepped through the low bushes around his feet. He had explored the area the first day they were at the camp, but didn't have enough time to really enjoy the area, but he had some leisure time to himself now and was going to spend it the way he wanted.

'_Besides, it beats doing more competitions between classes,'_ Sasuke thought with a snort as he remembered this morning. Shortly after breakfast, the teachers told the kids they were going to have a competition between the classes and after finishing their food, they were split by their first class. Of course, Kakashi's class had some extra people so Lee and Neji were sent to join Gai's class. This suited Sasuke just fine. It'd make the competition more worthwhile knowing he had a chance to shut up that cocky Hyuuga once and for all (even better if it was in front of his precious Tenten).

And so, they did what any high school competition did: they had an obstacle course set up, they had a swimming race (much to the delight of the girls), and they even had an eating competition. They won of course (though unfairly, seeing how Chouji was in their class, but Lee and Neji put up a good enough fight that they didn't deserve too much pity).

After the points were tallied up, it was time for the face-off between the two top-ranking classes: Gai's class and Kakashi's class. Ironic that the two teachers were rivals as well (however one-sided it was on Gai's part).

The final event was to be a round of tug of war. Whoever fell down or let go of the rope first, lost. For added fun, the teachers had decided to dig a mud pit. How the teachers managed to convince the campground owners to allow them to do this, Sasuke didn't know, but he didn't mind either. It'd do Hyuuga good to eat some humble pie, especially if it involved some mud in the face. Oh, the look on his face would be _priceless_.

And it was. They had won naturally (Sasuke gloated for hours to Neji, or at least, his form of gloating which included him dropping subtle reminders whenever they crossed paths), but Gai's class had actually been quite a challenge since Lee was their anchor (he was strong for a bean pole). Luckily, he had been distracted when Sakura stumbled (he'd have to talk to the boy about ogling Sakura later), giving Sasuke a chance to tug on the rope. The sudden jerk caused Lee to become unbalanced and allowed for his team to capture the final few feet of rope. With no traction in the mud, Gai's team slipped with team leader Neji falling face first in the mud and Sasuke with a front row seat to watch it all happen. If it was any consolation to the boy, he'd gotten a free mud mask for that pretty-boy face of his and the accident caused Tenten to dote on him for the rest of the hour, which he knew the boy secretly enjoyed. (He saw that blush on Hyuuga's face when Tenten helped wipe the mud off with a towel.)

But that was this morning and after another round of showers and lunch, the teens were given free time as the teachers set up for tonight's barbeque. Luckily, his class had dinner duty yesterday and didn't have to deal with it today (it would've been hell to help set up and clean up the mess afterwards), meaning he had the afternoon to do as he pleased.

'_It should be right around here…'_

And what was "here" exactly? "Here" was a stream that wound around the area behind the cabins. Surrounding the area were tall Japanese maple trees and short, squat bushes that hovered over the leaf litter. Mysteriously, the leaves were dyed the colors of fall, despite it being spring. Sasuke didn't mind; he liked the colors and was looking forward to enjoying the view alone when he heard the faint sound of splashing coming from the stream.

'_Someone's here?'_ Sasuke thought confusedly as he walked into the clearing by the stream. And sure enough, he spotted someone who turned out to be none other than…

"Hi Sasuke-kun!"

"Sakura," he greeted quietly as he climbed onto a large rock and sat down. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I found this place while wandering around today. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was planning on spending some alone time here," Sasuke admitted, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. He was strangely talkative around her, he noted; Sakura stared at him wide-eyed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll leave right now and—"

"No!" he shouted. At her surprised stare, he coughed into his hand. "I mean…don't. You were here first and it wouldn't be fair of me to have you leave on my part," he explained. At this, Sakura looked at him warily, but nodded and settled back into a more relaxed stance.

With that little episode over, he took this time to look over his companion. She was bent at the waist, her white T-shirt flowing loosely around her body. Wading in the water, her red pants were rolled up. A pair of flip flops sat on a rock a few feet below him.

"Hey Sasuke..."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Think there are any fish in here?" she asked peering down at the water running through her wiggling toes.

Sasuke shook his head. "The water's too shallow for it. If the water level was higher, it'd be possible. The bottom is perfect for a fish nursery," he commented staring at the smooth round rocks in the clear, running water.

Sakura nodded at his answer and carefully waded back towards the shore to sit on one of the lower rocks. Her legs kicked back and forth in the cool water. "Ne, Sasuke…"

"Hmm?"

"Sorry. I must be bothering you in your alone time, but I was wondering…what happened to Nami and them? I didn't see them at all today."

"They were sent home last night after what happened. Their parents picked them up, but it was pretty late at night, so I'm not surprised if you didn't see them go."

"Oh…then how do you know?"

"Naruto wouldn't let me go to sleep and forced me to stay up and play cards with him—which he is horrible at, by the way. If you ever need money, just play against him," he told her. Sakura chuckled.

"Sasuke, that's no way to talk about your best friend," she said, but it didn't stop her from giggling at his remark about it being true. Sasuke merely smirked from his perch.

* * *

"I can't believe it's almost over."

Sasuke looked up from the rock he was sitting on. He had been watching the leaves fall into the river. He'd nearly dozed off before she spoke, but he'd been awake enough to hear her statement.

"Hn," he agreed quietly. The camping trip had been surprisingly pleasant. It was nice to just relax with friends, especially since they never usually got to see each other outside of a school setting. Now that it was ending, it was almost sad in a way.

Hearing splashing, Sasuke turned his head to see Sakura wading in the stream again. One arm across her back, she watched her feet kicking up small waves of water. She looked up at him.

"You know…"

"Hn?"

"You never showed me any martial arts moves," she said with a small shy smile.

Sasuke stared at her then laced his fingers behind his head. "Hm…guess you're right."

Leaping down from the boulder he was sitting on, he straightened out the blue shirt and cargo shorts he was wearing and placed a hand on his hip. "So what do you want to see?"

"What do you know?" she returned.

"Lots of things. Kakashi—he works on weekends as an instructor—is teaching me karate, and when I was little, I took Judo lessons."

Sakura's eyes grew bright. "Kakashi-sensei knows martial arts?!"

Sasuke chuckled softly behind his hand. "Doesn't seem like the type, does he?"

Sakura nodded her head. "But wow…is he any good?"

"He's actually a sixth-level black belt." At Sakura's stunned gaze, Sasuke nodded his head. "Yeah, I didn't believe it either when he first told me, but he is. He's even won awards and still does competitions sometimes. I've lost count of the number of times he's handed me back my ass on a platter."

"Then what level are you, Sasuke?"

"First-level black belt; I've had it for a while, so I'm training for second-level now. Some people are surprised that someone my age has that kind of a rank, but I've been doing this for a while now. Kakashi thinks I'm a prodigy at this since my skill-level is so high. I think the ninja blood in me helps too. If that's true, it'd explain a few things. Apparently, Kakashi's from a really famous old ninja clan like my family too."

Turning his head to see Sakura's bewildered expression, he colored slightly. "Sorry, I must be boring you," he said continuing his stretches.

Sakura shook her head. "It's not boring. I mean, I can't fully understand how clans might factor into this—I come from a line of peasant farmers and merchants—but it is interesting to listen to you talk about this."

"Really?" he asked, slight surprise in his tone.

Sakura nodded. "It's the first time I've ever seen you so excited about something. It's nice," she commented.

At the heat entering his cheeks, Sasuke quickly ducked his head. His bangs fell over his face and he grunted in response.

"I'm ready," he told her. "Are you going to…?"

"I'll watch from the stream," she answered.

Nodding his head, Sasuke walked to the middle of the clearing. Clapping his hands together, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, letting it out slowly. Opening his eyes, Sakura felt something lance through her at his sharp gaze and she watched as he shifted into a fighting stance. A fist was at his side and he was crouched to one side as his other hand flew out, striking an invisible enemy before shifting his weight. His head ducked and using the heel of his palm, he shoved it upwards as if to strike a chin before kicking out towards his right.

Sakura was amazed. She could feel the power radiating off of him as she watched, mystified. As a child, she had thought martial arts were nothing but a form of ugly brutality, but watching Sasuke was like watching a dance. His movements were fluid and graceful, yet strong. It was beautiful.

Sasuke dropped his weight on his haunches, ducking an imaginary kick as he replayed spars from competitions and training in his head. He could still feel Sakura's eyes on him, watching his every move. Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, he smiled to himself at her awed gaze. She was obviously enjoying his little display and he was making sure she did. She had asked and Sasuke was not one to disappoint, but he had to end this somehow. It would be strange to suddenly stop, when it suddenly hit him what he could do. It was a flashy move, usually not used in his spars since it exposed one's weak point, but he saw no reason that he couldn't use it here.

Skidding to a halt, he began running up the large boulder he'd been sitting on earlier. Pushing off from it, he flipped in the air, feeling the sun bathe his skin before bringing his leg down harshly. If someone had been there, that strike to the head would've probably split a person's skull, but when he landed, there had barely been a sound and the leaf litter lay undisturbed at his feet. Pulling himself up gracefully, he placed his fist to his palm and bowed fluidly towards the river.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Sakura shouted loudly. Sasuke merely smiled and wiped off the thin film of sweat that had formed on his skin.

"You liked it?" he asked, moving to one of the lower rocks by the stream. Sakura nodded enthusiastically.

"That was amazing!" she said throwing up her arms. "And that flip at the end—I still can't believe you did that! You don't even look tired at all."

Truth be told, Sasuke was actually feeling a little winded, but rather than tell her that, he merely shrugged his shoulders and accepted her praises, his feet dangling in the cool running water.

* * *

The water babbled gently at their feet. A cool breeze crossed through the area, causing the bushes and trees to rustle. From above, maple leaves sprinkled the water. The sun was setting lower.

"Time to head in, Haruno," Sasuke called from the bank, watching the girl who was content with watching the tiny organism nibbling at her feet. Apparently Sasuke had been wrong and there were fish in the water; something that made Sakura happy to no end (though why she was so ecstatic, he had no idea).

Said girl nodded her head and wriggled her toes, the action scaring the fish and sending it swimming downstream. Sakura watched it go and smiled to herself before heading back to shore, crossing over the smooth-stoned bottom. She was only a few feet away when she felt herself step on something slimy. She remembered dimly of Sasuke warning her about the moss growing on some of the rocks before she felt gravity throw her backwards and she realized she was slipping.

Closing her eyes, she hoped it wouldn't hurt as much as she thought it would (which, by the way, was a lot), and waited.

And waited.

And waited…only to feel strong hands holding her body.

"Are you alright?"

Sakura blinked open her eyes and let out the breath she had held. So much for falling into the water.

"Yeah," she said dazedly.

Sasuke sighed to himself, still gripping her arms. "Told you to watch out for the moss," he muttered under his breath. Really, she should've been more careful. If he hadn't been here, she could've hit her head and no one would've known what had happened to her (though he probably would've gone out to look for her. Not because he liked her, but merely because she was a friend—perhaps even a mere acquaintance).

Feeling a slight tingle on his face, he looked down to see Sakura mere centimeters from his face, staring blankly at him. Realizing their proximity and the fact he had yet to let go of her since he had caught her, Sasuke quickly let go and began heading back to shore…only to slip on a patch of moss. Oh, the irony…

Feeling himself falling, he twisted himself. Firstly, because he didn't want to fall flat on his face (not only would Hyuuga never let him live it down if that happened, an injury to the face was like declaring open season to a fangirl and he'd rather only deal with one problem at a time), but also because he could more easily grab something to keep him from falling. Reaching his hand out, he did just that…only to grab onto Sakura's arm, pulling them both into the water.

"Ow…" Sasuke groaned, bringing his hand to rub the back of his head. His head hurt, he'd made a fool of himself, and he was soaking wet. Oh well, at least he didn't fall on his face.

Trying to get up, he felt a weight across his body before feeling it shift. It was Sakura, and he vaguely remembered bringing her down with him when he fell. Moving so he could get up, he shifted into a sitting position before they looked at each other. Finding the other equally soaked, their eyes met, both staring at each other before erupting into fits of laughter.

"You look awful—like a drowned cat!" Sakura said howling with laughter.

Sasuke smirked back. "You're no beauty queen either," he remarked, raising his arms to shield himself from her splash, the sound of her laughter ringing in his ear.

Hearing Anko shouting for role call, they decided to get out. (The water had gotten too cold to stay any longer anyway.)

Sakura got out first, Sasuke following next. Climbing to the bank, they shook the water from their feet and put on their flip-flops. Sakura began heading back to the cabins first when a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Sasuke?" she asked.

"Here," he said, handing his shirt to her. Sakura stared at the light blue shirt and thumbed the three horizontal stripes on the chest. The top and bottom stripes were white while the middle one was orange.

"Um…thanks Sasuke, but why are you giving this to me?" she asked confusedly.

"You'll catch a cold," he replied gruffly. She was about to protest that being shirtless, he was more likely to get sick, but the look on his face told her there was to be no argument and she pulled the shirt on without a word. Seeing his satisfied nod, he walked with her to her cabin.

"Um…bye, Sasuke," she said from her doorstep. Sasuke merely inclined his head and walked back to his cabin.

Calmly climbing the steps, he opened the door and shut it quickly behind him, thanking Kami that Naruto wasn't here to see him like this. Leaning with his back against the door, he sank against it, eyes wide and blushing hotly with embarrassment. Images flashing through his mind, he covered his face with his hand and groaned, feeling his face heat up even more if it was even possible.

Zillions of thoughts were running through his racing brain—of the trip, of the day's competitions, of his missing shirt—but he could only think of one thing:

'_How did she not notice her bra was showing?'_


	19. Day 16: Heading Home

Started this at ten at night, finished at one-thirty in the morning. Yeah, I'm crazy like that.

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Ch.19: Day 16- Heading Home

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Chatter echoed the small confines of the bus as Sasuke shifted with a grumble in his seat. He knew that they were all going home today and that people were still excited from the barbeque they had last night as a send-off, but he hadn't slept well last night and the migraine in his skull was throbbing steadily at his temples. Granted, it was his fault for agreeing to Tenten's mahjong game after the five rounds of cards he played—how Tenten managed to smuggle that thing in, he had no idea—but they desperately needed a fourth since their fall-back member Lee was sleeping early to "preserve his youth" and Naruto was just as bad at mahjong as cards. It was for a noble cause that he stayed up until three playing mahjong, tying for second place with Neji (Tenten naturally won first); couldn't they keep it down?

'_Can't believe she actually played for money though,_' he thought to himself as the memory of Tenten's cackling face replayed in his mind as she scooped up her winnings and threw them in the air, _'isn't that technically illegal?'_

Not that he was one to talk, seeing how he and Naruto always played for money when playing poker, but _still_. Tenten had been absolutely vicious when playing—Hinata had only been spared from fainting by switching out with Sakura—and he had lost nearly half of the money he won from his card games to her.

The bus grinding into gear and bouncing over the dirt road jarred him from his thoughts and he began scowling once more, propping his chin on his hand and consoling himself with the fact he had his own seat (Naruto was occupying the seat across the aisle) as he stared out the window.

But despite his grouchy attitude, even he had to admit last night was fun (especially since he didn't have to do any of the setting up or cleaning). The celebration had started at six, and the kids were given free reign of the camp area (this lead to people being pushed into the lake, of course). Along with the food, some people had brought their speakers and plugged their mp3 players into them, supplying the music. For their group, it was Naruto and though he sucked at cards, his music library was pretty decent.

And of course, with nothing else to do at the party, Sasuke broke out his pack of cards, quickly amassing their regular group of Neji, Tenten, Hinata, the dobe, and Sakura. Lee wasn't there—off with Gai-sensei on youth patrol (what the hell is that?), and neither was Shikamaru, who had slipped off with Temari once again. (Whether they were dating or not had yet to be ascertained. For a lazy bum, he certainly worked hard at being secretive.)

And while they had played cards, the camp was smattered in relative disarray. Not that the teachers cared. They were all drinking around their own little campfire on the beach (apple juice, my ass. I wasn't born yesterday, Kakashi). Megumi was the only one who didn't drink (she was a lightweight when it came to drinking and someone had to be sober to deal with any problems that came their way). But the teachers were all sober enough to light the fireworks that officially signaled the end of the party, littering the sky in a colorful array of lights fitting for the end of a camping trip. _Officially._

Unofficially, the teachers didn't care whether you stayed up or not, and while some had headed back to their cabins, most had stayed out. Some chatted around their own little bonfires; others walked and chatted with their girlfriend or boyfriend; and if you were Sasuke, Neji, or Naruto, you went to the girl's cabin to play mahjong with Tenten until three in the morning and your eyes bled (he should kill Hyuuga for looking so unaffected by lost sleep. He was practically dying right now, but at least he had the satisfaction that Hyuuga's eyes were beginning to collect dark circles around them).

All in all, the trip had been fun and whether the teachers had honestly meant to or not, they had bonded together. (Sasuke certainly knew more names of people that he did coming into this trip.)

Not that it really mattered. The end of the year was coming up and their homerooms would surely be rearranged next year. A voice roused him of his contemplations.

"Sasuke-kun, you wouldn't happen to have your cards on you, would you?" Sakura asked, peering over the seat back. Sakura had been sitting in the last row of the bus. Clambering on top of the seat, she was looking down on him and feeling eyes on his back, he realized Tenten and Neji, who were in the row in front of him, were looking at him too.

Sasuke dug into his pants pocket and pulled out his card deck. "Hn. Here."

But before Sakura could even touch it, the bus hit another bump in the dirt road, jolting the bus upwards and—being in the very back of the bus—pitched Sakura forward, sending her tumbling as his deck flew into the air.

Sakura flipped in the air, but before she could collide with the bus floor, a pair of arms caught her just as the card deck landed neatly in Tenten's open hands. "Wow," was the only thing that escaped the brunette's mouth.

Sakura winced. "Ow-w-w…" she moaned, rubbing the back of her head, having bumped it against the window, "thanks for catching me, Sasuke."

The raven-haired boy offered a quiet nod and pulled his hands away from her. Hinata peered over the seat fretfully.

"Are you alright, Sakura-chan?" she asked, her voice anxious.

Before Sakura could answer, Tenten answered for her.

"Sakura's fine," she said mussing the pink-haired girl's hair affectionately, "she isn't that delicate, remember?"

A small smile crossed Hinata's features as she nodded. She remembered.

"But I don't think you should be sitting there, Hinata-sama. It's too dangerous," Neji stated, "you should find another seat."

"She can sit with me," Naruto said boisterously as he all but grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled her into his row, not noticing how Hinata's face flushed a bright red. Everyone else did and glancing down, he saw the faint, satisfied grin on Sakura's face. If Sasuke didn't know better, he would've thought Sakura had planned this whole event. Catching her gaze when she looked up, he looked at her questioningly. She merely gave him an innocent glance.

'_She did plan it.'_

And while he frowned at the idea (she could've snapped her neck if he hadn't caught her), he understood why she did that. Naruto was quite oblivious and it would be many millennia before he realized Hinata's feelings for him and the idea of running a little interference of his own crossed Sasuke's mind before slipping into the back of his mind.

Unfortunately, not everyone shared their wishes for the two to hook up. Protests were on the tip of Neji's tongue, who had risen out of his seat, but Tenten simply grasped his arm and gave him the most charming smile she could muster. Faced with that, there was little Neji could do but sigh in defeat and sit back in his seat and Sasuke could just imagine the triumphant glow on Tenten's face.

Intervention averted, Tenten popped back up to face the row behind her. "So who's playing?" she asked, but her hands were already dealing the cards.

They had played three games before Sakura passed her cards in, complaining of feeling tired. Tenten simply collected the cards from her friend and let her sleep before dealing once more, and glancing at his watch, Sasuke estimated another few hours for their trip given how many pit stops they were taking (the "apple juice," in combination with the bumpy road and stuffy bus conditions were catching up to the teachers. Kakashi, of course, had remained unaffected).

Feeling the bus jerk as it started up once more, Sasuke moved to pass his card to Tenten when he felt a weight on his shoulder. Turning his head to his right to investigate, he instantly found the source. It was Sakura, her head on his shoulder as she slept.

Realizing that she must have moved when the bus did, Sasuke decided to hand his cards in. He didn't want to wake her up and it had been getting hard to stay focused anyway.

Shifting his shoulder, he helped move her into a more comfortable position before grabbing his jacket from behind him to cover her (fog had begun to appear and the windows of the bus were all open. The fact she was in nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of shorts didn't help either). Satisfied that she wouldn't get sick, Sasuke settled back in his seat and watched as Neji and Naruto became embroiled in a glaring match, the blonde now shouting emphatically that Neji was a cheater and he had indeed said 'one card left.' This was in addition to the cacophony that filled the bus, and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how Sakura could manage to sleep through all of this.

Moving his head, Sasuke stared out the window to look at the passing scenery and glanced out of the corner of his eyes towards the card game every now and again. A lazy warmth began creeping through his system and before he even realized what was going on, Sasuke had fallen asleep.

* * *

"What next?" Tenten asked. The sun was setting over the mountains now. It was still two hours until they would reach Konoha and idly, Tenten wondered how it had only taken three hours to get up the mountain and eight to get down. Tracing her mind back, she recounted the pit stops, eating lunch in the moving bus to get back on schedule only to have three students throw up from motion sickness (luckily not in her bus), as well as other things such as the road down the mountain not being paved and having to take a long winding road back down, road construction for where it was being paved, etc. Taking a page from Neji, it seemed that fate was conspiring against them. She sighed audibly.

"I'm bored, Neji."

Her stoic seatmate merely grunted, obviously displeased that his attempts to nap had been disrupted. Shifting his arms, he didn't even bother to open his eyes when he spoke, but she could still hear the softness in his tone when he suggested, "talk to Hinata."

"She's too busy trying not to explode. Naruto is talking to her about ramen and we all know once he starts, he loses focus of everything else and won't stop until he's finished."

At this, Neji growled and cracked an eye open to check for suspicious activity on his cousin (it was his duty as a branch member to protect her and he was sure Hiashi-sama would not be pleased if the school idiot did something to the clan heir). When he was satisfied that the warning glare he gave would discourage Naruto from doing anything stupid, he shut his eyes and resettled against his seat. "Sakura's been quiet a long time. Why don't you go check up on her?"

"You're the greatest, Neji! Why didn't I think of that before?" Tenten asked as she clamored onto her knees on their seat. Neji merely smiled to himself and mentally patted himself on the back.

Looking over the seat back, Tenten opened her mouth to call out to Sakura, only to be silenced by what she saw. There, in the seat behind her, were the sleeping figures of her best friend and the school idol. Their hands were at their sides, their bodies angled slightly towards the middle. Sasuke's jacket was now covering Sakura's lap, having slipped down in her sleep. To make it even more precious, Sakura's head was resting on Sasuke's shoulder while his head rested atop hers.

Tenten was filled with the sudden urge to scream, but she realized that A) if she did that, she'd wake them up and they'd move apart instantly, B) she'd not only embarrass herself, but them as well (Sakura would kill her, not to mention what Sasuke would do), and C) Sakura would have a lot more enemies than she already had.

But she couldn't keep this to herself! She was going to freaking explode if she didn't share this with someone. I mean, this was cute! Not just puppy dog cute. This was 'OMG, I might just get diabetes by how sweet and adorable this is' cute.

Moving to jar Neji's shoulder, she stopped herself when she realized he was asleep (not only was it rude, he was also a very deep sleeper when he was tired), and turning her head, she tried motioning to Naruto and Hinata to no avail. They were too into their own little worlds, and turning behind her, no one was looking back here. Tenten felt like ripping out her hair. If she had no one to share this moment with, who was going to convince her she wasn't dreaming and gossip over this with?

And just when she thought there was no God, Tenten was struck with a fit of genius. Digging into her pants pocket, she grabbed her cell phone.

_Click!_

And just like that, a picture of the sleeping duo appeared on the screen of her phone. Now she had proof this had happened.

Staring at them a bit longer, she smiled to herself as she admired them, and when she felt her back aching from her awkward position, plopped back down to giggle secretly to herself.


	20. Day 18: The Return pt2

**A/N: Something to cure the Monday's. I think I'll finish this story first. Then Fix You on my other account. Then work on Mister Darcy (please check it out and tell me what you think).**

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Ch. 20: Day 18- The Return pt.2

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Sakura sighed as the bell rang, signaling the end of school. The day had been uneventful and apart from Anko trying to do Iruka in a broom closet, nothing out of the ordinary happened that day.

'_Boring…' _

But still, at least she could go home now, and apart from her math homework and history project, she was free for the night.

'_Guess I can catch a movie,'_ she told herself, rising from her seat when she noticed something on a desk. Walking over, she picked it up and flipped through it. Someone must have forgotten it, she told herself, and decided she should return it. Searching for a clue as to the person's identity, she spotted a familiar name on the front cover.

'_What was his address again?'_

* * *

"Shit! Where is it? Where is it?"

"Is something wrong, Sasuke?" Mikoto asked from the kitchen. At his mother's question, Sasuke gave a hasty, "No!"

Now Sasuke wasn't usually one to worry, but this was different. His notebook was missing, and with it, all his homework. Sure, he could just redo the assignments, but he had a test to study for and that notebook had his notes. Nara had the class too, but he was never online when you needed him and he was _not_ going to call Hyuuga up to get a copy. (He'd rather fail the test then crawl to that bastard for help.)

Going through the list of names he could get the notes from, the doorbell rang. Getting up to answer it, he opened the door and felt his eyes bulge from their sockets.

"Sakura?"

"You left your notebook in math class. I thought you'd need it, so I took it home to give back to you," the pink-haired girl said with an easy smile.

Extending his hand, he took it from her and stared at the cover. Words of thanks were on the tip of his tongue, but before he could say anything, his mother's voice interrupted him.

"Sasuke?" she asked entering the entry hall, a spatula in hand, "who's that at the door and—oh! I'm sorry, who might you be?"

"This is Haruno Sakura. She's my classmate. I left my notebook in class. She was just returning it to me," he explained.

"Pleased to meet you, Uchiha-san," Sakura said bowing. The older woman flushed.

"Oh please, call me Mikoto! And you must stay for dinner! I insist!"

"_Mom!"_ Sasuke hissed in embarrassment. If you looked close enough, you could see his cheeks were slightly flushed.

Sakura smiled politely. "Actually, I should be getting back home."

"Then let my husband drive you."

Sakura shook her head in refusal. "It's alright. Actually, I only live down the block. I don't want to trouble you."

"Are you sure?" This time, it was Sasuke. "Do you want me to walk to your house?"

"I'll be fine, Sasuke-kun," she said with a smile, "See you at school tomorrow?"

Sasuke nodded in reply and smiling, Sakura walked off the porch and headed home. Closing the door once she went out of view, his mother went back to cooking.

At dinner, Mikoto couldn't stop talking about their visitor to Fugaku, who merely grunted and added an 'is that so?' when time called for it. His mother was musing aloud how wonderful it would be to have a daughter-in-law like that, but Sasuke didn't hear any of it. He was too busy thinking.

When Sasuke had introduced her to his mother, he was about to say 'friend,' but he'd said classmate. Thinking back, both terms seemed too cheap and didn't really describe their relationship. But if Sakura was neither just a classmate nor just a friend, what _was _she to him?


	21. Day 20: The Call

Just a short little update for Sasuke's birthday. Thank you everyone for the reviews so far! I love reading them! :)

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Ch. 21: Day 20- The Call

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Sasuke and Naruto were walking around the grounds of the school. It was a Saturday and aside from a few people playing basketball, the school grounds were relatively empty. The fact it was still early in the morning added to that fact.

"I can't believe we're going to be seniors in two weeks," Naruto said, hands clasped behind his neck as he walked.

Sasuke grunted. "First things first, we still have that project due next week," he reminded.

"Oh yeah, how's that going?"

Sasuke sent him a flat look. "You're in my group, dobe. You should be contributing too, you know."

"But you haven't told me what I'm supposed to be doing!" the blonde whined.

"I told you when the project started: get costumes for us."

"But you know I don't have that stuff at my house!"

"Then go ask Hinata," Sasuke said, a hint of exasperation in his voice, "they're still a prestigious clan. They must have ceremonial robes somewhere. And if not, their kimonos have to be more elaborate than anything we have."

"Hinata?" Naruto asked, "You mean she's in our group too?"

Sasuke sent him a dubious look. "You didn't know?" he asked in a tone saying that depending on his answer, Sasuke might have to kill him for his idiocy.

Naruto blinked. "I thought Hinata was in another group and was just hanging with us because she's friends with Sakura and Tenten."

The raven-haired boy covered his face with his hand and sighed. Humanity must be weeping by now. "No, she was in our group the entire time," Sasuke said patiently, wondering just where Naruto's brain had gone. Honestly, how could he forget? He was giving her his ramen speech just last week! He suddenly felt immense pity for Hinata. If they ever got together, she would have her work cut out for her.

"Anyway, just go to her house with her and look for our costumes. And have someone teach you how to put the stuff on and off, as well as how to put it away properly. Those things are expensive enough, but theirs probably cost well into the millions." Sasuke's lips curved into a devious smile. "Good luck."

Naruto gulped.

* * *

Sasuke stared contemplatively at the piece of paper before him. It was the script to their play and despite Sasuke's best efforts to come up with something, the paper remained stubbornly blank. It was supposed to be easy. Look in the book and copy a passage, but the problem was he didn't know which scene to choose and what to edit out.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked, picking it up.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura?"

"Yeah. I was just wondering about the project. We're meeting at your house on Sunday still, right?"

"Right," Sasuke answered.

"Okay. Oh! Hinata told me to tell you they got the costumes, but she and Naruto won't be able to get them until tomorrow, so they can't make it. They said to email them a copy of the script so they can practice at her house."

Sasuke grunted. He hadn't even started on the script.

"You haven't?" Oh crap, had he said that out loud?

"Well, not exactly," he clarified, "I've picked out a few scenes, but I don't know which to choose."

"Well, I'll help you choose tomorrow. I'd do it now, but I forgot my book at school," she admittedly sheepishly over the phone, "so what time?"

"Anytime," he replied.

"Mmm…then I'll come around eleven."

"Aa. See you then."

"Bye Sasuke!"

The click on the other line signaled she had hung up the phone and he did the same. Staring at the paper, a list of things to do surfaced in his mind. He'd have to clean up the living room, charge his laptop, etc., and he groaned at the idea of having to clean the house (he'd have to hide every embarrassing baby photo his mother owned of him and he didn't even want to think about what Itachi might have in his room. He'd have to make her stay clear of there).

With the list steadily growing in his mind, he realized just how daunting preparing for Sakura's visit would be, but even if he had to clean downstairs and explain to his mother that no, she couldn't show Sakura the picture of him in his little blue footsy-pajamas from when he was two, he found he didn't mind having Sakura come over and dare he say it, maybe even a little excited.


	22. Day 21: Sasuke’s House

It's almost done! Holy shiznits! Wow, it's been over a year since I started this. And yes, America's Best Dance Crew is in this chapter (you can see how long ago I had this idea).

And to idk (because you mentioned something about your email, but it wasn't anywhere visible, so here's the response), there is **NO SUCH THING AS TOO LONG OF A REVIEW! **And don't worry about your spazzing. I thought it was cute. :3 -From a fellow spaz. :)

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Chapter 22: Day 21- Sasuke's House

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Sasuke paused his pencil and, grasping both hands together, lifted them up over his head for a stretch, sighing when he heard a joint pop and felt the tension between his shoulders melt away. It was now one in the afternoon, two hours after Sakura arrived at his house. It was quiet in his house—his parents had gone out to do errands—and the light from the cloudy day filtered into his living room from the window, casting everything in a soft halo of grey light. A faint smile played on his lips.

When he realized the full brunt of Sakura coming to his house, Sasuke fell into a slight panic. After all, no one other than the dobe had ever come to his house; when doing projects, he always went to theirs (mainly because they'd try to seduce him at their house, often with disastrous results). So having someone—much less a girl—would understandably send Sasuke's mind into a slight tailspin. What did he have to do? How was he supposed to act? Did he have to give her something? Did she have to give him something? What would she wear?

That question had thrown him for a loop. After all, their school, like many schools in Japan, had a uniform. For the males, it would be a white button-up shirt and black pants with the traditional gakuran during winter; for females, it was the traditional sailor uniform: a white shirt with navy blue sailor collar, a white stripe running along it, a pleated navy skirt, a navy neckerchief, white socks, and black shoes. That being said, other than the school trip, he'd never seen Sakura in regular clothing, so he had no idea what to expect.

His question was soon answered when she arrived on his doorstep at eleven that morning in a pair of forest green Capri pants and a white T-shirt with a pink heart, a pair of strawberry hair clips keeping her short hair from her face. When he saw that, he almost sighed out loud in relief. He thought he would've been underdressed in his grey long-sleeve and jeans.

Looking back, Sasuke had to shake his head. It was absolutely foolish of him for worrying about something like that. In the time he'd gotten to know Sakura, he knew she wasn't the type to care about what he wore, but for some reason, he still felt nervous around her. It was strange that he would, but he chalked it up to the deadline of the bet coming up. After all, it couldn't possibly be that he had feelings for her. That would've just been absurd.

Sasuke chuckled to himself at the thought.

"Something funny?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke shook his head. "Nothing," he murmured, waving his hand dismissively before laying back down on his stomach, pencil in hand as he jotted down the last few lines they needed for the scene.

They were going to do two scenes. The first one was when Genji meets Lady Fujitsubo, his father's new wife. The second scene was going to be when Genji had come back after sleeping with his first-love-and-stepmother Lady Fujitsubo and Princess Murasaki was crying. They had already decided on their roles earlier. Naruto would be the Emperor and Genji's father (though how they would pull that off, Sasuke had no idea since the idiot couldn't even pass off as his servant, let alone his father and the emperor of Japan); Hinata would be Lady Fujitsubo; Sasuke would be Hikaru Genji; and Sakura would be Princess Murasaki. Though her hair was too short to replicate a Heian-period hairstyle like Hinata was doing, he was sure they would be able to pull it off.

'_Though this is probably going to be the most elaborate project anyone's ever done,'_ Sasuke mused to himself as he copied down the dialogue.

And it was true. Even their prop list was extensive. Besides the kimonos from Hinata's family, they were bringing in screens for Murasaki's room and a tatami mat (not only to make it realistic, but so the clothes would not get dirty). They'd have to practice for the set changes though, since they were going to begin the second scene while Genji was still with Lady Fujitsubo. Though they didn't actually have to do the bedroom scene, there would still be close contact between them. He could only hope that Hinata didn't faint.

After that, Sasuke would straighten his kimono (the shoulder would've slid off. Hinata would have to teach him how to mess it up and fix it properly) and they'd do a scene change. Hinata would be pulled to the side to wait with Naruto and he would go to Murasaki's room for the rest of the scene.

Suddenly, Sakura spoke.

"Is it okay for me to check something on your laptop?"

Sasuke blinked as he slowly rose onto his elbows, "Uhh…sure."

"Thanks," she smiled as she opened a new tab. She had been looking up hairstyles and other things they would need for the skit before, and while she knew that their presentation was on Thursday—Kakashi had decided to space out presentations. They were going on the second to last day—what she had to look up was of dire importance. She had to know…

"Who won last week's America's Best Dance Crew?"

Sasuke turned his head so quickly, he thought his neck snapped. "What?"

Sakura looked like she was a deer caught in some headlights. "I-it's nothing."

"Then show me the computer."

"I said it was nothing."

"If it's nothing, then you should be able to show me the laptop," he replied easily. He began reaching for the computer when Sakura's hands stopped him.

"Okay, I was looking up the results of last week's America's Best Dance Crew," she admitted mumbling, her gaze refusing to meet his.

"You watch America's Best Dance Crew?"

At his surprised tone, she couldn't help but to laugh. "Yeah," she said chuckling nervously, "weird, right? I don't usually watch a lot of American television, but I'm addicted to the show!"

Sasuke felt his lip quirk for a second. So she was into that show? "Well, don't feel too bad. I watch it too."

"Really?!" Sakura exclaimed, shocked at his admission.

Sasuke nodded. "I don't watch a lot of TV, but that's one of the things I watch," he told her. Turning to rest on one elbow, he looked at her, a faint smile playing on his lips. "So who do you want to win?"

"Kaba Modern! I hope they got into the final three," she said anxiously, eyes flitting back to the screen.

Sasuke scoffed. "They did, but if anyone's going to win, it's JabbaWockeeZ," he stated confidently.

Sakura turned to him indignantly. "Yeah right! Kaba Modern is so going to win!"

"Not even with all the luck in the world, Haruno," he told her flatly.

"Uh-huh! They're going to win and you're going to have to eat those words!" she said adamantly, her eyes glaring daggers at him. Sasuke returned her glare. Like hell, he was going to back down from a challenge.

They stared each other down, daring the other to yield. Suddenly, Sakura's lip quivered.

"Pfft!"

Sasuke watched in surprise as laughter began spilling from Sakura's mouth. It had started out small, an errant chuckle that had escaped her lips, but soon, more chuckles started to escape until she was hugging her sides and tears were dotting her eyes. She was laughing so hard, it seemed painful to her, but the sound was a strange oddity to him. It was a bright, loud sound, but it wasn't unpleasant like Naruto's or as grating on his ears as some of his ex-girlfriends'. No, Sakura's was different. This was a sound that filled his body. It was like his body was filling up with bubbles and he smiled despite himself. Not just that, he felt a chuckle escape his lips.

Tightening his lips, he tried to stifle it. He had a reputation to uphold, after all, but it kept pushing and pushing at him until he suddenly found himself laughing with her and suddenly all thoughts of his reputation faded from his mind. All he could think about was her loud, bright laughter and the bubbling, floating feeling it gave him. Dimly he could hear his own laughter. It was quieter and more reserved than hers, but he could still hear it running like an undercurrent to her sound.

Their laughter mixed between them. He wasn't sure why they started laughing or why they still were, and he was sure Sakura probably didn't know either. His sides were starting to hurt and his chest was beginning to burn. He'd need water after this, he thought to himself. His reputation was probably shot to hell too—not that Sakura would tell—but he found himself not minding. If that happened, he would just let it slowly build back like it always did.

One thing's for sure though, Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he'd ever laughed like that.


	23. Day 25: Sleepover

Two more chapters! Oh my god, pressure is on me to do well. I must go out with a BANG!

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Chapter 23: Day 25 - Sleepover

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"No way! Kiba did that with Chisa?!"

"Yeah!" Tenten shouted in reply, watching as Sakura kicked her feet and giggled to herself before laughing herself, clutching her pillow to her stomach. It was a Thursday. More importantly, it was the day before Hinata and Sakura's presentation and they were sleeping over at Sakura's as an early birthday get-together for the pink-haired girl since her birthday was this coming weekend.

Hinata looked at the girl warily from the corner of the bed. "I don't think Kiba-kun will appreciate you spying on him and Chisa-san."

Tenten scoffed and waved Hinata's worries away dismissively. "If he didn't want me to find out, he shouldn't have been making out with his girlfriend by the soccer field. I have practice there, after all," she argued petulantly. "But besides that, how's the project?"

"I-I-It's going well," Hinata stuttered, poking her fingers together.

"Going well?! Hinata, Naruto went over to your house! You saw him half-naked! I'd say that is more than just 'going well.'" Sakura shouted.

Hinata blushed and looked away shyly. "It isn't that big of a deal. We're just doing a group project," she mumbled before sighing suddenly, "Besides, I doubt he remembers who I am."

Sakura narrowed her gaze, placing her hands on her hips. "He better. You've liked him for forever! If he doesn't remember who you are, he will after I'm done with him," she grumbled, not noticing how the pale-eyed girl blanched at her words.

Tenten, sensing Hinata's oncoming fainting spell, decided to change the subject. "S-so! I heard you guys were practicing for the past few days at Hinata-chan's place! How was it?"

"It was okay. Hinata says Neji's a bit more relaxed now that you guys have presented, but he and Sasuke were squabbling with each other the whole time we were practicing. When Sasuke mentioned your name to Neji, he turned a very interesting shade of red," Sakura said with a sly glace towards her friend who was turning a similar shade of red.

"Me and Neji are just _friends!_"

"Oh please, you've been crushing on him since freshman year. Fess up, Ten-chan, you and Neji are more than just friends," she said deviously, Hinata nodding behind her.

Tenten flushed even further. "Oh yeah? What about you and the Uchiha? Hinata told me you ate dinner at his house!" she argued.

Sakura blinked. She had in fact eaten dinner at his house on the day she went over to do the project, but that was because his mother had insisted she stay for dinner and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Sakura shrugged and toyed with the lollipop in her mouth. Yum, cherry flavor… "Yeah, so what?"

Sakura swore Tenten's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets. "'So?' 'So?!' Sakura, no one goes over to his house other than Naruto. You're the first girl to ever go into his house and what's more, he _talked_ to you. He made the effort to strike up a conversation with you! Do you realize how many fangirls would kill to trade places with you?"

Tenten flopped onto her stomach, pillow hugged to her chest as she stared up at the rosette-haired girl, "Face it, Sakura. Sasuke has a crush on you."

At this, Sakura laughed and waved at Tenten dismissively. "Sasuke doesn't like me, Tenten. We're just friends," she explained.

Hinata and Tenten exchanged dubious looks.


	24. Day 26: Presentation

A/N: Jdladjald Wrote this when I had my wisdom teeth removed. So much pain!!! The dialogue was copied from the scanlation group that translated Gekka no Kimi. All credit goes to them!

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Chapter 24: Day 26- Presentation

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Sasuke looked out to the approaching dawn, the right sleeve hanging off his shoulder showing his bare chest. Reaching over to fix it, he trained his eyes to the figure of his step-mother, the remnants of lust framing the shame in her eyes.

From the side of the room, Naruto spoke. "After that, Genji returned to his home with Princess Murasaki."

In the front of the class, the screens were shifted across the floor soundlessly. Sasuke stepped on the edge of a mat; Hinata, no longer playing Lady Fujitsubo, but a handmaiden, stepped forth to intercept Sasuke, a fretful look on her face as she bowed. Walking over to the screens hiding Sakura, she spoke.

"Princess, it is Hikaru-no-kimu," Hinata announced.

"Tell him I do not want to see him," came the reply from behind the screens.

Sasuke looked down, smiling to himself. "She seems to hate me," he said aloud. Walking over to the box of screens acting as her room, he lifted one and entered. Naruto wheeled the screen facing the audience away for them to see.

Sasuke looked down at the covered figure of his young wife, a patient look on his face. "Have you heard about yesterday? I was down with a cold. I could not let you catch it from me. So, get up now."

"No!" she shouted petulantly beneath her sheets.

Sasuke frowned. "Stop being indignant!" he said, grabbing the edge of her blanket.

Sakura gasped. "Ah! Don't pull it!"

But it was too late. Sasuke had already wrenched the blanket off of her. As the fabric fluttered and settled by his side, Sasuke's calm gaze gave way to shock. There, in the middle of the screens, was his princess with tears in her eyes.

Sakura looked away in shame as she rubbed away the tears. "Please don't look…" she pleaded softly.

Sasuke could only stare in mute silence as Sakura continued to hiccup through her tears. Hinata walked to his side. "Please say something to soothe her," she whispered.

Sasuke blinked in surprise. He had not expected to be spoken to, but her handmaiden made a good point. The only problem was that he did not know what to say to her to soothe her. The sight of her like this, hair covering her face, tears in the emerald eyes he'd learned to love, had arrested him. He knew he was to blame for her tears, yet he could not bring himself to say anything and it both saddened and frustrated him.

Walking away from the scene to the end of the mat, Sasuke covered his face ashamedly. "I have hurt her. If I can apologize, that is fine. But…I will probably repeat the same deed…I don't know why, but that is the only way that I can live. And what's more…it pains me to see you grieve. So, please forgive me. I am going to shut my heart's eye."

"The end," Naruto finished as the class erupted into cheers. The boys hooted and waved their arms while the girls gushed over Sasuke's performance. Through the noise, he could hear their various fantasies, wishing he would do that to them. Sasuke merely shook his head and walked over to Sakura.

"Here," he said extending his hand to help her up, watching as she took it thankfully. The kimonos were quite heavy, but inwardly, Sasuke had to sigh to himself in relief. At least he didn't have to wear the actual period costume, the sokutai. It was a costume worn traditionally by nobles and the emperor of the court. It was very elegant and complex article of clothing; today it was only used at weddings and enthronement ceremonies in the imperial court. He'd seen one at a museum though, and the robe had been open to show all the different layers.

'_And I thought mother's kimono was complex,'_ he thought to himself, recalling the many layers of fabric that had swaddled her when she wore her kimono.

Helping her up, he helped her take off the wig they had used to help shape Sakura's hair into a more traditional style and held it as she nimbly picked off the hair ornaments.

Asking if they could change, the group headed to the bathrooms to change. The boy's and girl's bathroom were in the same direction, so it was no surprise to either of them as they ascended the same set of stairs.

Sakura huffed to herself as she attempted to pick up the layers binding her legs. The many layers were making it hard to walk. The geta she wore did not help.

Taking a step forward, she found more reason to hate her costume when her knee became trapped by the fabric and her foot slipped on a step and she felt herself falling backwards.

'_Stupid wooden sandals,'_ went through her mind, as well as a tinge of guilt that she would be dirtying a priceless family heirloom, but all that escaped her lips was a soft, shocked "Ah!"

Suddenly, a hand wrapped around her waist.

"I got you," Sasuke murmured, one hand bracing their weight to the railing as he pulled her to the landing with his other. Feet once more on the ground, he asked her, "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded numbly. "Y-yeah. Thank you."

Sasuke nodded in response and looked up to see Hinata and Naruto running back to check on them. When they thought she was alright, Hinata and Sakura headed to the girl's restroom as Naruto headed to the boy's. Meanwhile, Sasuke had stayed behind unnoticed as he stared at his hand and questioned the faint warm pressure tingling in his fingertips and palm.


	25. Day 30: Conclusion

It's the last chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who's stayed with this story and given it a review. I'd name you all, but you've allowed me to reach 171 reviews and there are really too many people to thank and not enough words to say it in.

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Chapter 25: Day 30- Conclusion

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"Ah, can't believe the school year's finally over. Sorta sad to see the seniors leave, but that only means we're moving up, eh teme?"

Sasuke merely grunted as he kept pace with his friend. They were wandering the grounds. Graduation had finished a few minutes ago and people were still filing out of the school with their diplomas in hand. To think, that would be them next year.

Wandering by the back of the school, they came upon a small empty portion of the garden. This part of the school was rarely ever used and it was once a popular confession spot at the school, but in recent years, the school gates had become more popular. Now, it was the place Sasuke and Naruto came to eat lunch in peace. Strangely, the fangirls had yet to find him there.

"So, if my calendar is correct, it's the last day of our bet, teme. So…" Naruto sidled up to Sasuke, a sly smile on his lips, "do you or do you not like Haruno Sakura?"

The question caught Sasuke off-guard. Though he knew this had been coming, he hadn't been quite prepared for it. It should've been simple to answer, but he found himself pondering the question. _Did_ he like Sakura?

Sasuke thought back. Though she had offered a nice end-of-the-year distraction, he had never expected it to turn out like this. He knew before she wasn't one of his raving fans, but she didn't seem to be a distant admirer either. She seemed to view him as just a boy; she treated him normally.

In the past thirty days, their relationship had changed and morphed many times. They had started off as distant classmates, became acquaintances, project partners, friends… He couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to her, or how easily she talked to him. Their friendship was comfortable and he found himself acting more natural around her than any other girl. It seemed almost normal that they were friends, despite the circumstances of their meeting.

Instantly, the memories flashed before his eyes: the notebooks, her arriving on his doorstep, finding out she lived near him, the kittens, the fieldtrip, the dock…even the tentative tingling of his fingers after catching her on the stairs last week. She was an odd girl, but that wasn't a bad thing. She was full of surprises and he had to admit she was amusing; maybe even cute.

So now it boiled down to a simple question. Did he like her as a friend or maybe more? He'd debated with himself what to label her as before and it was something he had yet to discover. He'd be lying if he didn't say he liked her in some way, but was it enough of a like to warrant about a month's worth of allowance?

Her smile appeared in his mind. _"Sasuke-kun…"_

And suddenly, he understood. Vaguely, but he understood. Sakura had managed to worm her way under his skin. Slowly and surely, she had made a home for herself in him until he couldn't picture himself without her. He didn't want to lose her after this silly bet was over. Maybe this was why she had such a reputation as a boyfriend-stealer. She charmed her way through everyone's walls, broke down the barriers of their hearts and touched something deep with them that made them feel alive. She'd even managed to do him in. She probably wasn't even aware of what she was doing. To her, she probably thought she was just being normal.

'_It's so simple,'_ Sasuke thought to himself, amazed at how absurdly easy it was to figure out. Maybe that was why he hadn't realized sooner. He never thought the answer could be staring him in the face.

"Well?" Naruto asked impatiently.

Sasuke smirked and slowly looked up. "I like her. You win," he conceded.

"YES! I WON! WHOOHOO! I—wait. What?!" Naruto shouted in disbelief, head turning abruptly during his celebration. Sure, he'd won the bet and secured a week's worth of ramen as well as escaped the wrath of an angry Hyuuga Neji, but still. Sasuke-teme liked a girl? And he'd admitted it?

"Sasuke? You're kidding, right? You can't actually be saying you like her, can you?"

Sasuke merely waved as he walked over the crest of the gently sloping hill.

Naruto watched his friend's retreating figure in disbelief before laughing to himself. "Well, I'll be damned."

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**A/N: Okay, that was way fluffier than I thought it was going to be. But hey, it's over! And for those people angry that they did not get together in this story, fear not! There is a SEQUEL! Yes, a sequel! I've planned it out, but I'll probably update a few chapters of Mr. Darcy first before I actually start on it.**

**Thank you for reading this story and supporting it. I'd like to especially thank the people who reviewed, added this to their alert-list, and favorited this story. You guys kept me going. You rock!**

**Until the sequel!**

**-moodiful819/Pleasantries and the Aftermath**


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